Parkinson's:Crackin' the nut

pic credit There was an interesting question on Quora the other day, asking '' Is it possible to cure Parkinson disease naturally?'' I sighed. It's been a while since I've ranted about PD (Parkinson's Disease...sigh).Why? Good - hoped you'd ask! Because I really don't have much to say anymore; I am fully immersed in my role as care-giver to my husband Pete. As his disease progresses (I know...should be DIgresses), both of us have been treading water for some time now. It's not pretty or peaceful; unlike the  downing man  there. It's one pratfall, one more choking session, one more proper fall, more torn tendons, more nightmares, panics, watching, waiting, staying alert....the list of insults would take this whole damn post. So I'll shut up about that side. I did, however, offer an answer to that question (c'mon...we all do Quora now & then!). Here it is: (I'm putting it between two lines so's you can move to

Parkinson's: our 4-year shot The World Parkinson Coalition (WPC) is holding their 4th World Parkinson Congress in Portland, Oregon September 20-23rd NEXT YEAR,  2016 . They've dropped the last 's' after Parkinson's - fair enough....annoying anyway. Here's their site:  http://www.worldpdcoalition.org/ Here's their podcasts:  http://www.worldpdcoalition.org/?page=PortlandCountdown   I've heard the first podcast already. It was 30 minutes (approx), fascinating and well presented. DBS was alluded to, but not addressed. If you scroll down on the lower link, you'll see why. What was addresses was the rather sad confession that after about 50 years, there's presently no other pharmaceutical alternative than L-Dopa. Sucks, considering. But there's a lot of excitement and hope...... The thing with the WPC is it's really the motherlode of hope for PD ( Parkinson's ...(sigh) - do get told off for using acronyms, even though I ALW

Work together, Cure together: Parkinson’s Calling all Parkinson’s, families, spouses, carers: you wanna cure? Fight for it! https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/work-together-cure-parkinsons-lisa-vanderburg?trk=prof-post World Parkinson’s Awareness Day is looming. April 11th, in fact. We’re asked to wear purple. But I won’t be posting on that day, tell you why later. Pretty much every Country in multiple cities, will be holding this event. All the big guns will be there: Michael J. Fox Foundation, Davis Phinney Foundation, APDA, Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, EPDA, National Parkinson's Foundation, to name a few. The above are a probably the most high-profile of 171 global partners listed below from 46 countries that have teamed up with the World Parkinson Coalition, which hold their congress every three years (next 2016). But even though they’re ‘teamed’, each one has their own agenda….not necessarily of their own choosing. I shall refer to all the above collectively

James Parkinson: 198 years on April 11th is World Parkinson's Awareness Day. Yippee. I'm so thrilled, I can hardly stop yawning. This is gonna be a bit of a rant, but sometimes you have to call it what it is. In the infancy of my husband’s Parkinson’s, I used to think ‘why doesn't anyone connect the concept that all movements stop during sleep…there must be an answer there’? Sweetly naïve, wasn’t I. Of course that was a life-time ago (actually, I  do  exaggerate – like to put it down to being numerically dyslexic), but really it’s a mere 15 years; just seems like a lifetime. The sleep thing is sorta moot these days anyhoo. Pete (hubby with the ‘Shaking Palsy’ – I’ll get to that later) doesn’t sleep much – in fits and starts – at his desk – face in his dinner. Wherever, really. And if he sleeps it’s fairly tormented by REM sleep disorder and RBD (REM behavioural Disorder), apart from those odd moments when he enters the paralytic stage; REM – the fifth stage of