By Penny Mitchell, Independent Knowledge Worker and Health Reseacher, diagnosed with Early Onset Parkinson's Disease.
"This article is based on a series of posts which I shared in the Parkinson's Disease Fighters United (PDFU) Facebook Group. Gary Sharpe asked me to contribute these as an article, and I am happy to share here too, in case other people with Parkinson's may benefit from my journey and experiences."
Read MoreIn this article, we explore, with the assistance of my friend and mentor, Cheryl Townsley, Health & Wisdom Coach, how the concepts of stress interruption and nervous system resetting help us understand why walking, cycling and dancing - exercises that inherently involve mobilization of the ankle joints - are so beneficial for People with Parkinson's Disease (PwPs), and why we need to keep practicing these regularly.
Read MoreMy background is law – patent law – not science, but with engineer Steve Walpole I have spent a great deal of time studying the brain and developing new technology which can measure and influence the brain, andm as part of this, I have been observing people with Parkinson’s.
Read MoreThen something profound and disturbing, but extremely important happened. As I was sitting there, I switched into a deeper "off" state - one in which I zone out completely, lose myself, the brain fog descends, I stiffen up and become rigid, eyes glaze over, I withdraw from the world. hat happened next was extraordinary.
Read More"Smovey Rings" are a general health and wellness tool that combine exercise and vibration, which have particular beneficial applications for Parkinson's Disease. Indeed, these hand held "rings" were invented by Johann Salzwimmer, an Austrian Tennis player and a person with Parkinson’s, who actually initially designed them specifically to help himself. So it is not hard to understand why these are proving beneficial now with many other people who also have neurological conditions.
Read MoreProfile of Dr Laurie Mischley: a new breed of naturopathic doctor, not only able to prescribe medication, but also fully educated in dietetics and nutrition. Laurie specializes in helping clients with Parkinson's Disease, and is working at the cutting edge of research on the disease. The purpose of this post is to further highlight the work of Dr Mischley, and also the benefits of choosing a holistic PD doctor. For updates or news, follow Laurie's facebook page.Write here…
Read MoreMy colleague David Spry is helping people with Parkinson's Disease get symptomatic relief using nutritional therapies. In particular, he is undertaking extremely careful and holistic research on a nutritional-genetic issue, in which people with a specific gene profile are not only very prone to nutritional deficiencies related to “melthylation” and "folates", but also that this makes them highly susceptible to a wide spectrum of food intolerances. David is revealing the role these issues play in the motor and non-motor symptoms associated with PD, and is demonstrating that, by addressing these, significant improvement can be acheived in the condition of people who have developed Parkinsonism’s in this genetic class. Most importantly, David has pioneered this approach by testing out his conclusions on himself.
Read MoreMy career was cut short by Parkinson's Disease. I lost my Great Love, my life's pursuit and have had to grieve. To change and adapt, to evolve once again or perish. I'm currently lost, at sea, not sure what to do or what I am capable of. Yet Dave has found his Calling, in his family and his career. Very bravely, he formed his own business, Raptorxotics. He has squared his own circle and now his animals, family and work are one.
Read MoreIn fact, the possibilities to fine tune light therapy for PD through such wearables is now immense. For example, the Propeaq glasses already come with an app which allows the timings of the therapy to be programmed in: Toine is helping Olympic athletes achieve peak performance at the scheduled times of their events! They also already come with interchangeable tinted colors, including red for increasing melatonin: currently, these are used when the wearables are applied to combatting jet lag, for example.
Read MoreA number of important studies have now clearly demonstrated that strategic use of light therapy can be highly beneficial for people with Parkinson's. Recent studies aimed mainly at addressing the poor quality of sleep associated Parkinson's, as well as those aimed mainly at addressing depression in people PD, are alsp inadervently showing improvements in the motor symptoms of the participants too. It is believed this is because strategic light therapies are actually helping to restore the natural balances between dopamine and melatonin and restoring the Circadian Rhythm.
Read MoreIn taking us along with you on your journey you have realised that we are all different yet also all the same. It matters little what kind of music helps us, the fact is that there is some music for each of us that heals our symptoms. For me it's The Shadows music. I discovered this when I was recovering from a mini stroke and the friend came round to play his guitar for me. I could literally feel my brain responding as though I had guitar strings in my head.
Read MoreBased on this evidence, while I am in no way advising anyone else to do so, I have personally decided to add Mannitol into my recovery plan** and have invested in a kilo of the powder. I have just taken my first teaspoon to ensure there are no side-effects and will build up to the recommended dose over the next few days. I will report on outcomes.
Read More"Nowadays, some of the PhDs and presenters don't even take the time to learn the nomenclature and techniques used by the co-authors who actually interface with the patients. They just deal with the numbers. Medicine becomes so much simpler when it's been de-personalized. The Dr. abdicates his responsibility by simply purveying what his specialty has dictated; the patient becomes his diagnostic label... PD in our case.
Read MoreBy Jennifer Oldroyd, Contributing Author and Person with Parkinson's.
Just like the family of a person who smokes can suffer from passive smoking, the carers of people with Parkinson's suffer from Passive Parkinson's. If they still want to do things together they have to slow right down to accommodate the Person with Parkinson's. The question is - is this necessarily a bad thing? While we do not draw Parkinson's into our lungs, a negative way of looking at things can be infectious and negative thinking is stifling.
Read MoreK.O.R.E. is based on Wellness Engineering techniques (which is how, I believe, "Complementary Therapies" should be more properly termed). K.O.R.E. employs kinesiology muscle testing to identify root causes of health issues and then uses bioenergy and biomechanic techniques to seek to resolve them. We are looking at how such strategies might work for resolving Parkinson's symptoms, through experimenting on myself.
Read MoreI recommend anyone interested in Parkinson's Recovery to take a look at Jim Kennedy's research and follow his journey of self-experimentation into NMT. You will find Jim to be very positive and upbeat - no doubt because he has chosen to fill his life with music. You can follow Jim's work via his Facebook Page.
Read MoreI hope that my experience might be a catalyst for change, because, in speaking with a significant network of people with PD around the world, there are many with diagnosis and aftercare treatment experiences even poorer than my own. I feel, therefore, we do need an overhaul of how the healthcare diagnoses and treat people with Parkinson's. Simply stated, the current experience of too many PwP (People with Parkinson's) is that they are prescribed drugs as a singular treatment pathway and given a narrative of hopelessness at diagnosis.
Read More
Deb had the unique insight that a kind of stress ball (a squeezy, bouncy ball which fit the human hand well) which comes with an attached elastic string and a velcro finger or wrist strap would be hugely beneficial. She based this on our discoveries of how some hand-eye co-ordination movements are relatively easy for people with Parkinsonsim's. She was right!
Read MoreThere is a beast inside me. The beast is not my Parkinson's illness. The beast is myself. Parkinson's is just the empty cage. Let me explain, because although this is difficult reading, I believe it is important to share this epiphany.
Read More
