NOVEMBER 16, 2011 PARKINSON'S DISEASE

"HOW OTHERS TREAT ME IS THEIR PATH; HOW I REACT IS MINE." ----- ---WAYNE DYER

I used to feel so horrible when I was treated in a hurtful way. Whether it was the way another classmate in middle school forced me to do his homework, or a gesture from a classmate in high school. I do believe I had to go through that to be the man I am today. When it comes to adults, I am always 'Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered' over how one adult can treat another adult badly. Some people are so self absorbed in their own world, they don't see what they are doing.

I currently live in a community on an island off the island of Manhattan. On Blackwell Island (its original name) there are men, women and children of all ages, races, and religions. The community is quite successful in bringing everyone together.

In the summer I live on another island where the community is so divided. Men, women and children are also from different ages, races and religion. I have visited and lived in this community on and off since I was eighteen. I have different perspectives as a man in this community as I age. I will not grow old and bitter. How others treat me and my true friends is really their path and their consciousness. How I react is mine. I do sometimes get caught in the drama, but I know one thing. I will pray for those unfortunates who do understand what life is really about. Life is short. I love my G.O.D. given profession but from my view when you see men, women and children of all ages, races and religions die with and sometimes without family/friends- I have learned to treat people special. I do not have 'stinking thinking'

Yesterday I saw a man with Parkinson's disease (PD). I understand the dopamine pathway which has its cell bodies in a small nucleus in the brain stem called the substantia nigra. The pathway degenerates in PD, disrupting motor activity and causing the characteristic rigidity, tremors, and decreased movements. I was introduced to a PD patient at a young age. My father's cousin has PD. It was difficult to understand as a child why he shook so much when he picked up a coffee cup. There are many causes or assumptions about the causes of PD beside the nigrostriatal pathway disruption. It has been postulated that PD could be caused by heavy metal toxicity, free radical damage, drug and alcohol overuse, pesticides and even chronic infections.

For me, it is important and critical that I have gained an understanding how conventional or modern medicine approaches PD. This is important because as doctors we can see patients in various stages of this disease. Dopamine agonists stimulate dopamine receptors which delay the motor complications. These starting medicines are L-dopa and carbi dopa. All medicines can have side effects. Today, both of these medicines are combined in a drug called sinemet. Other medications like selegiline, amantadine and COMT inhibitors are used. I have found that no single intervention works well for every patient. You must individualize the individual approach to a patient not only with PD but in any disease. This must include attention to dietary lifestyle.

I know that an individualized approach to a patient yields the best long term results.

Do you think I only rely on medications in PD? The answer is an astounding NO!

I use other treatments such as plants and vita nutrients. Some of these are plants as Datura and Belladonna as well as nutraceuticals as Piracetam and GABA.

Herbs ... Until tomorrow...