“Winning comes down to who can execute under pressure.” Billie Jean King “No pressure, no diamonds.” Thomas Carlyle Scenario #1: You’re lying on the floor for a stretch in a physical therapy session. You rise to your feet, and the world starts spinning suddenly. You feel dizzy and disoriented, and the room takes a few minutes to stop its dizzying dance. This is a classic case of orthostatic hypotension. Scenario #2: You are celebrating your grandchild’s birthday with family and have just eaten a big meal. All of a sudden, you feel dizzy and light-headed and like you are goi ..read more

“Nature creates unity even in the parts of a whole.” Eugene Delacroix “The whole is more than the sum of its parts.” Aristotle Hypothesis: A paper published by Chase et al. [Chase, Thomas N., Ahmad AL‐Sabbagh, Minako Koga, and Kathleen Clarence‐Smith. “Reduced Plasma Levodopa Fluctuations with More Frequent Administration of a Novel Carbidopa/Levodopa Functionally Scored Tablet.” Clinical Pharmacology in Drug Development (2024)] asked an interesting question: Could taking a smaller dose of levodopa/carbidopa more frequently than the usual dose prevent motor complications? “A fist is more than ..read more

“Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.” Jim Valvano “You may be the only person left who believes in you, but it’s enough. It takes just one star to pierce a universe of darkness. Never give up.” Richelle E. Goodrich World Parkinson’s Disease Day is April 11: Parkinson’s Disease Awareness month is the month of April. We commemorate World Parkinson’s Disease Day on the birthdate of Dr. Parkinson. James Parkinson was born on April 11, 1755, and died on December 21, 1824. Following the lead of one of my favorite Physical Therapists, Claire McLean, hopefully, you will participate in the “Stand up to ..read more

“To understand the living present, and the promise of the future, it is necessary to remember the past.” Rachel Carson “Remembering the past gives power to the present.” Fae Myenne Ng Introduction (NOTE: the Title should really read 5 days in March/1 day in January; but I liked the symmetry of the 5 dates in March): •On March 11, 2014, I received my diagnosis of Parkinson’s. Thus, this marks the 10th anniversary of having a disease with a name attached to me for the remainder of my days. •On January 23, 2015, I participated in a Patient Interview about my personal experience with Par ..read more

“I would rather die a meaningful death than to live a meaningless life.” Corazon Aquino “What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” Helen Keller Sadness: The title was one word, “Sadness,” and the note was brief. My friend, a fellow Person-with-Parkinson’s (PwP), passed away suddenly last week. His name was John Mauer, Ph.D., and his wife and Care Partner, Laura Mauer, wrote the note. I had recently spent a few hours with John and Laura on Hilton Head Island (they were in town for a wedding that weekend, and John had suggested, if I had tim ..read more

“When the road you’re on begins to crumble, forge ahead – better it crumble behind you than ahead of you.” John Avery “Theories crumble, but good observations never fade.” Harlow Shapley Introduction: For the past few years, I have been posting music and songs I genuinely love listening to for many different reasons. There is always a power in the lyrics of some songs or a strength lifting out from the music itself. In this blog post, I want you to listen to a song from Sir Tom Jones entitled “I Won’t Crumble With You If You Fall.” “Sometimes it’s good to fall down to see who will pick you up ..read more

“It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment.” Marcus Tullius Cicero “Life yields only to the conqueror. Never accept what can be gained by giving in. You will be living off stolen goods, and your muscles will atrophy.” Dag Hammarskjold Introduction: Are you familiar with the Cardinal symptoms of Parkinson’s by now? Here they are again: bradykinesia (slowness of movement), tremor (trembling in hands, arms, legs, jaw, and face), and muscle rigidity (stiffness of the limbs and trunk) along with impaired gai ..read more

“Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.” Lou Holtz “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” John Wooden A New Paper Describing the Benefits of Exercise in Parkinson’s: Corcos et al., (Corcos, D.M., G. Lamotte, N.S. Luthra, and K.E. McKee, “Advice to People With Parkinson’s in my Clinic: Exercise,” J Parkinson’s Disease, DOI: 10.3233/JPD-23027, vol. Pre-press, no. Pre-press, pp. 1-9, 2023). You should bring this paper to your Neurologist, movement disorder specialist, or any other professional de ..read more

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” Ralph Waldo Emerson “And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been” Rainer Maria Rilke A View of Parkinson’s: Looking out my window in my office in the front of the house, I see much going on, including the paper being delivered, early tee-times as the golf carts, along with their human cargo, go whirling by to get to the golf course, and neighbors out for the first walk of their dogs. I doubt the scourge of Parkinson’s enters their thought for most mornings. By contrast, they must think I am nuts to be ..read more

“Measure your success by your inner scorecard versus an outer one.” Robin Sharma “I never keep a scorecard or the batting averages. I hate statistics. What I got to know, I keep in my head.” Dizzy Dean The Reason for a Parkinson’s Disease Scorecard: We go see our Neurologist every six months, and one of their first questions is, “OK, what’s been going on? How are you?” Maybe you’ve got a detailed list of the significant events (Falling, stopped driving, etc.), but the day-to-day events, the arrival (and the advancement or changing) of new/old/routine symptoms that matter may be ..read more