I began this post back on April 11th – Worldwide Parkinson Day – and am finally finishing it today. One of the several reasons it has taken all this time to finish it is that I am finding typing can be a chore. My coordination is erratic particularly my right hand and where once I was a speed typist now most of my speed is back spacing to correct.* Another reason is one of the many invisible effects of PD – apathy. I begin things but cannot concentrate or focus on – and frankly at times care about – a project.
April was World Parkinson’s Month. A time when we bring PD, a disease that currently is known to affect 10 million people worldwide, into the spotlight. Over 150,000 Canadians have been diagnosed with the disease with 38-40 more people being diagnosed every day. Most of that number are over 60 and three out of every five are men. And there are many who are left undiagnosed or misdiagnosed because of the nature of the disease.
That nature is insidious and elusive: it can lay hidden and lived with for years – it can appear suddenly and devastate quickly; it can progress at a turtle’s pace – it can take over a body like wildfire; symptoms can be very similar, – symptoms can be completely different.
There is no test or scan that can confirm it’s presence. You see a neurologist. They watch you walk, check coordination, ask about symptoms you are having. Then they make their best diagnosis. And early Parkinson’s looks a lot like many other conditions—so misdiagnosis happens. It is basically trial and error: symptoms are catalogued and medications prescribed. If they work then it is 90% sure that it is PD.
So what is Parkinson’s Disease? Current research sees it as the ever diminishing ability of the brain to produce dopamine in sufficient quantities to allow the nerves to do what nerves do – make things work. That inability has the potential to impact on everything that the body and brain does.
There is no cure for PD and though Levocarb, the currently available medication, helps relieve symptoms it does not slow down the progression of the disease. It doesn’t produce dopamine but helps to control the symptoms by correcting the chemical imbalance in the brain. Unfortunately it only has an active body life of approximately 3 hours. This means it must be taken frequently, on time, and 30 minutes before or after any food. The drug has some interesting side effects that include bizarre and vivid dreams, binge spending and gambling, and unusual sexual urges (!).
Throughout April I was inundated with reels, ads, and posts holding forth on other possible medications. There are conflicting reports on the benefits of alternatives and even the various Associations seem divided on many of the suggested treatments. However the one common thread running through all treatments is the requirement to keep active. Exercise your body as best you can to make the most of what abilities you currently have. Fortunately local PD associations have programmes available – Dancing with Parkinsons, voice therapy, walking groups, support groups, and education.
As I read things over the things I wrote beginning over two months ago I am trying to recall what point I was aiming for at the time. Perhaps it was just an effort to bring Parkingson’s Disease to the forefront for a brief moment or two. To make people aware of what a complex, devestating, and at times mysterious disease it is for anyone touched by it – patient, caregiver, family, and friends.
*Someone suggested using Voice Recognition but unfortunately my voice is inconsistent and some of the trial run sentences have been risible in the extreme.
The word for June 20th is:
Risable /rĭz′ə-bəl/: [adjective]
1.1 Eliciting laughter; ludicrous.
1.2 Capable of laughing or inclined to laugh.
1.3 Relating to laughter or used in eliciting laughter.
From French risible. from Late Latin rīsibilis, rīsus (“laughter”) + -ibilis, from the perfect passive participle of rīdeō (“laugh”).
Willy Or Won't He 