analytics

Sunday, November 30, 2008

UCBD....What is it?


DOUBLE CLICK ABOVE TO ENLARGE THE IMAGE.
THIS RESEARCH PROJECT NEEDS YOUR ATTENTION AND HELP......
PLEASE CONTACT US FOR ALL YOU NEED TO KEEP PROGRESS ON THE FRONT BURNER. PB

Friday, November 28, 2008

THANKSGIVING

SLOW PROGRESS.....THAT IS WHAT I AM THANKFUL FOR.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

TURKEY DAY

Sunday, November 23, 2008

A SHAKY WORLD: CONTINUED, A NEW WEEK

A new day begins.
A new week begins.
What turn of events will we see ?
Will we be thankful on this coming Thanksgiving Day?
One never knows these days.
One can only hope for the best.
One can try a little harder.
One can be more supportive.
One can be thankful for the positive things we have.
One can look to the future, which will be brighter.
One can look to January 20th, 2009, a new dawning.
One can look to keeping the humor alive.
One can look to a steady hand at the helm.
One can look to himself .

We do have the power within us to sustain and prosper.
Positive thinking and action is required to keep it all together. Those whom have had to deal with unexpected changes in their lives, know this.
A more than positive attitude is a prescription for us all---it works---with positive side effects---too numerous to list.
All this sounds so serious. We are living through scary times.
Get out and smell the roses, watch the seas, see the sunrise and sunset, life is sweet.

Friday, November 21, 2008

CLEAR ADVICE

PARKINSON'S at HOME: PARKINSON'S at HOME, WE VOTED--DID YOU ?

CLEAR ADVICE

"CLEAR ADVICE//PLEASE READ."
JUST ADDED THIS TO THE LINKS LIST ON THE RIGHT COLUMN.
A LITTLE HELP FOR THOSE ON THIS JOURNEY.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

HOPE ON THE HORIZON-----TREMORS BLOG

JUST CAME ACROSS THE FOLLOWING. WE HOPE THAT PROGRESS IS BEING MADE. I WILL REPORT ON THIS IN THE NEXT WEEK OR TWO.
TREATING ADVANCED PARKINSON'S: NEW RESEARCH POINTS TO SEROTONIN.
ScienceDaily (Feb. 6, 2008) — For most people with Parkinson's disease, the only relief from the tremors, rigidity and impaired movement associated with the progressive loss of their motor skills is a drug called L-DOPA. But as the disease progresses, L-DOPA can cause prominent side effects that counteract its effectiveness.

Now, Rockefeller University's Paul Greengard and colleagues in Sweden provide evidence that serotonin, a well-studied neurotransmitter involved in regulating mood, appetite, sexuality and sleep, also plays a crucial role in Parkinson's disease. Using a mouse model of the disease, Greengard's team shows that side effects associated with repeated L-DOPA treatment can be blocked by manipulating a specific serotonin receptor. The finding, reported recently in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition online, points to a new target for developing treatments for this disorder, which is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's.
"Our study provides a scientific rationale for developing drugs that act on the serotonin 1B receptor for the treatment of advanced Parkinsonism," says senior co-author Per Svenningsson, a visiting professor in Greengard's lab and a group leader at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden.
The neurotransmitter dopamine has several functions in the brain, including the regulation of movement. Parkinson's disease is characterized by a progressive degeneration of dopamine-producing neurons, which causes tremors, rigidity and lack of movement control. These neurons project from the midbrain to an area of the brain called the corpus striatum. Although dopamine signaling is impaired in Parkinson's patients, serotonin production remains strong. In addition, several serotonin receptors are highly expressed in the striatum and available to modify the action of L-DOPA.
Two years ago, Greengard and Svenningsson identified a protein, called p11, that acts as a regulator of serotonin signaling in the brain. The researchers showed that p11 increases the concentration of the serotonin 1B receptor at synapses, thereby increasing the efficiency of serotonin signaling, and linked this interaction to an individual's susceptibility to depression and his or her response to antidepressant treatments.
In the new study, Greengard, Svenningsson and their colleagues show that p11 and serotonin also play a role in the L-DOPA-induced symptoms of advanced Parkinson's disease. Svenningsson and Xiaoqun Zhang, a graduate student at Karolinska, used a mouse model of Parkinson's disease in which a substance called 6-OHDA causes the destruction of dopamine neurons in one hemisphere of the brain. L-DOPA, because it is a dopamine replacement and a stimulant, causes the 6-OHDA-treated mice to rotate their bodies in the opposite direction of the dopamine-depleted brain hemisphere.
When the researchers gave these mice L-DOPA, they found increased levels of the serotonin 1B receptor and the protein p11 in the striatum. The researchers then used a molecule called CP94253, which binds to the serotonin 1B receptor and mimics the action of serotonin. CP94253 was given to two sets of 6-OHDA-treated mice: one in which p11 was "knocked out" and another with p11 intact.
After treatment with CP94253, rotational behavior and involuntary movements decreased in the p11-intact 6-OHDA-treated mice, but not in the p11 knockout mice -- suggesting that CP94253 works through p11. The researchers believe that CP94253, and similar serotonin 1B receptor agonists, may counteract L-DOPA-induced behaviors by reducing the release of GABA, a chemical messenger that inhibits the transmission of nerve impulses. GABA is released from neurons that contain the dopamine D1 receptor.
"Blocking the dopamine D1 receptor is not a treatment option for L-DOPA-induced side effects, since it would diminish the therapeutic efficiency of L-DOPA," says Greengard, who is Vincent Astor Professor and head of the Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience at Rockefeller. "Developing compounds that target the serotonin 1B receptor may offer an alternative approach for treating advanced Parkinson's disease."
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences online: February 6, 2008. http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/105/6/2163
This study was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health, the Picower Foundation, the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation and the Simons Foundation.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

TECHNORATI

Technorati Profile

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

TREMORS-- "IMAGINE WHAT IT'S LIKE"

We were visiting with friends this past Saturday. We did not have a chance to check out one of their most recent publications.
Good reviews, Put this on your reading list.

FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII PRESS:A Literature and Medicine Anthology

Imagine What It’s Like: A Literature and Medicine Anthology, edited by Ruth Nadelhaft, with Victoria Bonebakker, grew out of Literature and Medicine: Humanities at the Heart of Health Care, a national award-winning reading and discussion program for health care professionals that, according to one participant, “renews the heart and soul of health care.” Started by the Maine Humanities Council in 1997, by the beginning of its second decade, Literature and Medicine has reached across the country, from Florida to Montana, Maine to Hawai‘i. Bringing together diverse groups of health care professionals in a variety of health care settings, Literature and Medicine discussions help participants deepen their communication and interpresonal skills while increasing their cultural awareness, empathy for patients, and job satisfaction.

May 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3317-6 / $19.95 (PAPER)
A Literature and Medicine Anthology




Monday, November 17, 2008

MILES OF SMILES

Wit and humor are necessary components of our lives. Some of us have more and some less (and some not at all). Living with Parkinson's gives you more action per mile than most anyone else. Therefore you get more miles per smile.
Well we learned early on that previous (before PD or BPD)many daily activities were uninteresting and mundane. Now with our newly acquired movements there are the most interesting results in everything you do.
Before my condition became public knowledge there were many times that friends and colleagues would ask for a hand. We helped and my Linda ca linda would look at me and we would both have to smile and say, "
Boy, were they asking the right person."
Needles to say we have had miles of smiles.

Monday, November 10, 2008

VETERANS

Tomorrow, November 11th is Veterans Day in the United States of America.
We should honor those whom have served, sacrificed and given their lives for our Nation.
The NEW OXFORD Dictionary defines Veteran:
veteran |ˈvetərən; ˈvetrən|
noun
a person who has had long experience in a particular field
• a person who has served in the military : a veteran of two world wars.
ORIGIN early 16th cent.: from French vétéran or Latin veteranus, from vetus ‘old.’

I AM A PERSON "WHO HAS HAD LONG EXPERIENCE IN A PARTICULAR FIELD"

I am a veteran, not just from the U.S.Army but also after eight years since being diagnosed with PD.
Sometimes being a veteran weighs heavy on your physche and sometimes it is as light as a feather.
You served and now you are being served, or are aware that time marches on which leads to progress.
I am a veteran who served but I am fortunate not to be making fast progress.

HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY.



Wednesday, November 5, 2008

WE VOTED AND HISTORY WAS MADE.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Saturday, November 1, 2008

LUCKY, I GUESS.

LUCKY, I GUESS. At least that's how I felt after that fearfull first dose of Sinemet and Sinemet CR. I did not seem to have all those side effects printed on the drug information sheet. It takes about twenty minutes to read and comprehend that list.
So far so good, I responded as my doctor hoped I would.
Just a little detour. I am so glad my wife's brother, Dr. Paul Greengard (Nobel Laureate-2000) was so successful in his work to discover the dopamine trail and all that goes with it. He's still on the case and hopefully his latest findings will help all who have PD.
Back to me, every day since that first doseage we have found comfort and control.
Some days are better than others.
I cannot stress how helpful it is to have the support of people close to you.
I'm LUCKY, I GUESS.