Little did I know, back in 2017 when I started this blog - and this particular series - that I would end up writing a 'Part 5'...nor did I know that my journey to an 'electric brain' wasn't complete yet....
Wow, this is my first blog post after 'coming back' to the blog. And I'm writing it for this year's Parkinson's Awareness Month! Feels good to finally get back into…
Isn't that how some books and stories continue? Well, in the same way, this last Sunday, September 10, was exactly six months to the day that I had my DBS implant surgery done! So... in this short blog posting I thought I would give a quick update on how things are going, along some advice for anyone else considering the surgery...
This is going to be a short entry today detailing what happened to me last week. Looking back now, it's kinda funny; although at the time it didn't seem so, let me tell you. But the title today says there is something that DBS doesn't do ...
Well it is now all over. The surgeries anyway. And the unit (Neurostimulator) has been turned on. And I am happy to report that I am no longer experiencing dystonia (no more cramping feet) and most of the stiffness is gone! Plus, I have gone from taking Levodopa every 3 hours down to only 4 times a day! Less pills, less motor symptoms - yes, I have to call this almost science fiction type surgery a success!! ...
It's somewhat strange to think about. Right now, I have two wires implanted deep within my brain; I can feel the wires that are coming out of my brain under my scalp (since I haven't had the neurostimulator installed); yet I don't feel or sense the wires inside my brain at all ...
As I mentioned in Part 1 of my series on DBS - if you would have told me 5 years ago that I would have wires placed into my brain, I would have laughed out loud and exclaimed, 'No way, man, never in a million years!' But again, we change as things around us change ...
I always thought of myself as a pretty smart old programmer (ha!) - so I was used to being open to new ideas and technology. But when I first read about Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) , my immediate thought was, "No way, dude, NO ONE is messing around with the insides of my brain!"...
A host of entertainers and other celebrities turned out for the 27th annual Power of Love gala to celebrate country music star Blake Shelton and support the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo [...]
Participating in a weekly dance class may not only help people with Parkinson’s disease improve their mobility, but also can be an important source of joy that helps patients feel [...]
The presence of sleep disorders in the earliest stages of Parkinson’s disease correlated with blood levels of neurofilament light chain (NfL), a biomarker of neurodegeneration, in a study. “This finding [...]
Enhancing mechanisms associated with the degradation of misfolded proteins at the proteasome, that is, cellular structures where these proteins are degraded, may be a new therapeutic target for neurodegenerative diseases, [...]
Six years before world champion boxer Muhammad Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, his young daughter noticed he was slurring his speech. It was around the time of Ali’s heavyweight [...]
The first 25 patients have been enrolled in a Phase 3 trial that’s testing the light-based, at-home therapy device called Celeste for treating Parkinson’s disease, its developer PhotoPharmics has announced. [...]
Besides my husband, Arman, we don’t have any friends or family members with Parkinson’s disease. However, we do have a relative, Rose Brown, who’s a social worker working solely with [...]
Researchers have found a way to better control the preclinical generation of key neurons depleted in Parkinson's disease, pointing toward a new approach for a disease with no cure and [...]
A new study found certain genetic variants could help explain how long-term pesticide exposure could increase the risk of Parkinson's disease. [...]
Although there are still some aspects pending confirmation for its use in the clinical setting, and its resolution needs to be improved slightly, a study has shown that a method [...]
Researchers have used artificial intelligence techniques to massively accelerate the search for Parkinson's disease treatments. The researchers designed and used an AI-based strategy to identify compounds that block the clumping, [...]
A new study offers a first look into the complex molecular changes that occur in brain cells with Lewy bodies, which are key pathological hallmarks of Parkinson's disease and some [...]
New hypothesis paper builds on a growing scientific consensus that Parkinson's disease route to the brain starts in either the nose or the gut and proposes that environmental toxicants are [...]
Lewy body disease may be more common in middle-aged people than previously thought, according to a recent study. In the study, almost one in ten of over 50-year-olds were found [...]