Dan Freedman

It is a “disease” because it makes things less easy in life. “Dis” “ease”. Kind of like the word discourage (remove one’s courage), or discover (uncover, or make clear, something). To be a disease, there does not have to be a pathogen or infection.

As to what causes PD, I think that at best, we can say that certain things such as pesticides or…[Read more]

I had some apathy. Starting levodopa/carbidopa therapy (in my case, using Rytary) has helped a lot. As far as I know, dopamine is involved in establishing the feeling of anticipating a future reward, and a lack of dopamine means that this linkage is either reduced of missing. My understanding is that this exhibits itself as apathy, broadly defined…[Read more]

For me, it is the recognition that my carbidopa/levidopa medications have effects on my moods. While it might sound nice to be able to dial oneself up or down in terms of mood, it does beg the question (within me at least) about who I truly am. I try to observe myself and my mental reaction to medication, but there is always a question: Who is…[Read more]

I believe we tell ourselves stories, or make agreements with ourselves, about why things happen in our lives. With enough repetition, they become “truth” for us, even if they have no basis in fact. For something so important to us, we prefer a credible story, rather than no story at all.

Sometimes this might be dangerous, leading us to make…[Read more]

Every few weeks, I seem to have 3 – 4 days that are worse (for symptoms) than the rest of the month. I jokingly call it my “Parky Period”.

I learned that tears contain biomarkers that can detect PD. I’m hopeful that this means PD can be detected years before symptoms emerge, which may help people protect their own neurons via exercise, etc., and lengthen the time between this kind of diagnosis and the emergence of symptoms.

Everyone seems to react differently, not just to the disease, but to the medications and their inevitable side effects. I think it is important to recognize that you may well have a neurologist, a family physician, and maybe some others, but … you are your own doctor. Only you can directly assess the nuances of the disease and the meds,…[Read more]