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Friday, April 26, 2019

A Steady Track for Managing Stress and Heightened Emotions

April 25, 2019




Is stress a big part of your life? Perhaps a better question is, how well do you handle stress? Do you ride a roller coaster of emotions or are you pretty even keeled? When you are under stress do you feel a physical impact, especially if you already live with a health condition?
These questions are important to answer because stress and heightened emotions, both of which feed off each other, can have very damaging effects on our health if not properly managed. I live with a neurological movement disorder called dystonia, as well as chronic pain, and when I don’t manage life events well, it results in stress which increases my symptoms.

When I developed dystonia in 2001, it turned my world upside down where I could barely function because the pain was so severe. It led to intense stress and negative emotions such as anger, shame, fear, frustration, hopelessness, sadness, bitterness, resentment, and jealousy for people who were not limited physically like I was.
Over a period of many years, I have worked very hard to resolve these emotions and shift my thinking to help calm my mind, as well as physical treatments for my symptoms. By practicing various protocols to reduce mental tension, it prepares me to better handle the stressors of life. Mental and emotional calmness also give my body relief to better respond to treatments and feel motivated to involve myself in more self-care activities.

So, what is stress? Stress is the body’s reaction to harmful situations, whether they are real or perceived; perceived meaning that we are fearful of things that are not actually happening, but may happen. This is not uncommon. Many people live with fear, because, let’s face it, life is full of unknowns.
When we feel threatened, a chemical reaction occurs in the body that allows us to act in a way to prevent harm. As most of us know, this stress response is called “fight or flight.” Please see Chapter 8 of my book for more information on the fight or flight response, and stress and stress management. There is another component of stress I discuss in that chapter called the “freeze response,” a very interesting stress response that can potentially have damaging long-term health consequences. On the flipside, by using various tools to break out of the freeze response, it can be very healing.

During the stress response, heart rate increases, breathing quickens, blood pressure rises, and muscles tighten. This is not good for anyone, especially people like me with dystonia because the main feature is involuntary muscle contractions and tightness. Therefore, stress makes these symptoms and my overall health worse, which pretty much goes for anyone in all walks of life.
However, stress means different things to different people and what causes stress in one person may be of little concern to another. Some people are also better able to handle stress than others, and not all stress is bad. In small doses, stress can help us accomplish tasks and prevent us from getting hurt, like slamming on the brakes to avoid hitting the car in front of us…a very good thing!

These short-term stress responses are very helpful in these dangerous situations, but harmful when we are in this state when no danger is present or if stress is prolonged. This is what I am mainly going to focus on in this article, along with a visualization tool.
Going back to a question in the opening paragraph of the article about riding a roller coaster of emotions. I want you to visualize an amusement park that is filled with roller coasters and other rides, people, lights, noises, and other stimuli. It’s fun for a little while but imagine living most of your life in the amusement park. For most of us it would be system overload. The amusement park is the image I want you visualize as stress.

Now I want you to visualize the overhead tram circling the pandemonium of the park below. Better yet, picture a slow moving, open air train that often circles many amusement parks. The slow moving, steady train is where we want to live emotionally for better health. Let’s take this a step further and make it more applicable to real life.
A train typically goes around in an oval, similar to many race tracks and running tracks. The majority of the track is straight and on each end there is a curve. The place we want to emotionally live most of our lives is on the straightaways and then not become too alarmed when we hit that curve and our balance is thrown off. In other words, the more even keeled we are emotionally during ALL life events, the less stressed we will be.

Examine your life to see how much your mind is bouncing around in the raucous amusement park or if it is relaxed on the peaceful train. If you are riding the roller coaster of emotions of the amusement park, it is totally fine. It just means some work needs to be done. The reason why is because a body and mind that has frequent up and down emotions, and is easily triggered by stress, is a body that is not prone to good health. To learn more about this, please see my 2 other articles called, Our Mind: As Powerful as any Drug and The Power of Positive Thoughts on our Health.
Just like the train that hits a curve, the same happens in life. We all hit curves that throw us off course. The key is to get back on the straightaway and keep the curves to a minimum. Every time you hit a curve, lean into it and flow through it smoothly to get yourself back on the straightaway. Repeat those words I just mentioned…lean into, flow through, and smoothly. Close your eyes and let those words marinate for a little while. Allow your mind and body to experience how those words feel.

This is very important because how we respond to the curves, or stress in life, will determine the impact it has on our health. If we fret whenever we hit a curve, rather than flow with it, the stress response kicks in and keeps the body in a state of alarm. It is no different than staying in the metaphoric amusement park where chronic stress exists. It can feel like your head is on the inside of a pinball machine.
Stress can affect all aspects of our life, including behavior, thinking ability, and physical health. No part of the body is immune, so stress is potentially a big problem. One of many things we can do to prevent stress overload and the health consequences that come with it is to know your stress triggers. Then, the most important thing is how we manage those triggers, and you can read about some strategies in my other article simply entitled, Stress Management Tips. I have other articles on stress which you can find by typing the word “stress” in the search bar at the top of my blog page. One of my more recent articles is called, The Impact Stress and Emotions have on our Health.

That being said, for those of you who live with a health problem, you know full well how your symptoms are impacted by stress and heightened emotions. Even if you don’t have a health problem, you have more than likely felt the physical impact of stress on your body. Someone recently told me that whenever she gets a text message from certain people in her life that cause her stress, it immediately triggers a headache. Just seeing their name appear causes a headache, before even reading their message.
More remarkable is how, when faced with certain topics, movements, external stimuli, or other conditions, I have witnessed some people with chronic health conditions go from a 1 on their pain or symptom scale to a 10, and then back to a 1, all within one hour or less! This speaks to the power of the mind and how stress, unresolved trauma, and emotional issues can profoundly impact our health.

To sum up this article, I want to challenge you to take on a perspective that may be new to you or even sound a bit outlandish, given how ingrained the word stress is and how much it is a part of our dialogue. I want you to take on the belief that there is no stress in the world. Set up this thought structure in your mind because when you think about it, how we respond to life events is what really determines stress and the impact it has on us.
Nothing in and of itself is stressful. It is our response to events that causes a stress response. Therefore, if this new thought process becomes your reality, your body can remain calm, even when you hit the curves in life or find yourself bouncing around in the metaphoric amusement park, which we all do from time to time.
Even if this assumption is false, at least we put ourselves in a position to resist the messages we see and hear all the time from television, news, and social media, that most of life is stressful. The phrase “stressed out” has become so overused that we have accepted and embraced stress to our detriment.
To learn more about managing stress, please see the articles mentioned above, Chapter 8 in my book, and another article I wrote called, Fight, Flight, Freeze Response: Health Implications.
Tom Seaman is a Certified Professional Life Coach in the area of health and wellness, and author of the book, Diagnosis Dystonia: Navigating the Journey, a comprehensive resource for anyone suffering with any life challenge. He is also a motivational speaker, chronic pain and dystonia awareness advocate, health blogger, and volunteers for the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation (DMRF) as a support group leader, for WEGO Health as a patient expert panelist, and is a member and writer for Chronic Illness Bloggers Network. To learn more about Tom and get a copy of his book, go to Amazon.com or visit www.tomseamancoaching.com. Follow him on Twitter @Dystoniabook1 and Instagram.

https://www.tomseamancoaching.com/a-steady-track-for-managing-stress-and-heightened-emotions/?fbclid=IwAR1TXZPBA3ZJTpkwSItFERLA2r_49ArvRKWwggy0KUUOENTX15YmPW-ge8Y

Connections: Addressing gender disparities in Parkinson's disease research and treatment

 By EVAN DAWSON & MEGAN MACK






We have a conversation about Parkinson’s disease – specifically, how women experience the disease differently from men. The Parkinson’s Foundation has created a new woman-focused agenda, which addresses gender disparities in research and treatment. 
This hour, we discuss women’s health priorities when it comes to Parkinson’s, and our guests help us understand the unique symptoms and challenges faced by female Parkinson’s patients. Our guests:
  • Dr. Ruth Schneider, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Neurology and the Movement Disorders Program at the University of Rochester Medical Center
  • Dr. Michelle Burack, M.D., movement disorders specialist and advisory board member for the local chapter of the Parkinson's Foundation
  • Yvonne Hylton, Parkinson’s patient advocate
  • Megan Feeney, senior manager of community engagement at the Parkinson’s Foundation
Evan Dawson talks about what matters to you on ConnectionsEvery weekday from Noon-2 p.m. Be part of the program with questions or comments by phone - 1-844-295-TALK (8255), emailFacebook or Twitter

https://www.wxxinews.org/post/connections-addressing-gender-disparities-parkinsons-disease-research-and-treatment

How Did Life Get Crazy Busy? I’m Overwhelmed!

APRIL 26, 2019 BY DR. C IN COLUMNS




I thought that when I retired, I would have more time, not less. How did life get so busy? There are not enough hours in the week to finish all the things I want to. If I push myself harder and longer, then I get fatigued and overwhelmed, but then I need more rest, which results in less time. That thwarts the desired outcome.
I have a long to-do list, and I feel oppressed just looking at it, particularly when I am already worn out. I have been fighting this battle for the past five years, and there are a few things that make it a little easier for me.
To give you some idea of what my seven-day week looks like, here is my to-do list, with the average number of hours spent on each task:
Table of tasks and hours
A seven-day week has 168 available hours. I am already overbooked, and I haven’t included several projects that are on my waiting-to-do list. These include finishing/publishing three manuscripts, finishing/publishing my graphic novel, and a blog that hasn’t had a new post in over a year.
There is “Santa,” an important part of my identity, which will consume most of my time in December. Finally, there are requests for my professional services, such as a paper or a presentation. When these requests come in, something on the above list must change, and it can be too much.
The emotional confusion of being overwhelmed puts a halt to effective project engagement. The way out of being so damn busy and feeling weighed down is to put into place some form of a time management system. The first thing is to realize how much time your chronic disease consumes each week. There are lots of ways this happens, and flexibility is crucial to coping.
The second thing is to set aside the time needed for things that add to your well-being, like sleep, exercise, meals, and family. If you are like me, with lots of irons in the fire, you have a full list of things that require your time. It comes down to making choices, setting priorities. Sometimes, we have to say no to people.
Time is a resource that can be thought of like money. There is a limited “time budget” to spend, and I want to allocate that time in the best way possible in order to get the most out of this life with a chronic disease. I spend time in concentrated blocks of three to four hours. This helps to avoid distractions. Also, these blocks can be reallocated when something unexpected comes up — something always does!
Delegation, when appropriate, is a good time-management strategy. My partner has taken on the email, social networking, and the appointment calendar, which frees up time.
There are resources to help with time management skills. Here are a few:
1. A time management skills book that looks at multiple life demands on our time
2. A 30-minute audiobook talk with clear tips on time management
3. A TED Talk on time management
4. Columnists who offer time-management tips and time-management apps

What issues do you face with not having enough time in the week to get everything done?
***
Note: Parkinson’s News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Parkinson’s News Today or its parent company, BioNews Services, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to Parkinson’s disease.
https://parkinsonsnewstoday.com/2019/04/26/busy-life-overwhelmed-time-management/


Parkinson’s Foundation Grants $1.5 Million to Programs in 38 States

APRIL 26, 2019 BY MARY CHAPMAN 


In support of local health, wellness and educational programs, the Parkinson’s Foundationis granting $1.5 million to Parkinson’s community programs in 38 states.
Grants range from $5,000 to $25,000, and focus on programs that either help underserved Parkinson’s disease communities, target newly diagnosed patients, or advocate for clinical trial education and participation.
“We are proud to announce these community grants and expand programs and resources in Parkinson’s communities across the entire nation,” said John L. Lehr, Parkinson’s Foundation president and CEO. “These grant recipients share our passion and commitment to making life better for people with Parkinson’s.”
In the past eight years, the organization has funded some 338 community-based programs that seek to meet unfulfilled patient needs.
A full roster of this year’s community grant awardees can be viewed here.
One of those recipients explained how the grant will benefit Parkinson’s patients in her community.
“We are deeply honored to have been awarded a Parkinson’s Foundation grant and are very excited at the opportunity to join current recipients in improving the everyday life of individuals with Parkinson’s,” Karen Weisinger of the Calvin Chin’s Martial Arts Academy in Newton, Massachusetts, said in a press release.
“Thanks to the Parkinson’s Foundation, we look forward to bringing this unique tai chi program to people with newly diagnosed PD,” she said.
Tai chi is an internal exercise system that combines breathing with slow, gentle movements to improve the flow of energy (chi) through the body, to quiet and calm the mind and emotions and improve overall health and well-being.
Tai chi has been found to be effective in reducing falls, which could be of extreme importance for those with Parkinson’s, who many times see their balance deteriorate as their condition progresses.
The Parkinson’s Foundation seeks to enhance life for patients by improving care and driving investigations toward a cure.
All funded programs are designed to help Parkinson’s patients live better-quality lives. They include education, wellness, dance, art, boxing, cycling, yoga, nutrition, caregiver support, and music therapy.
Researchers have found that Parkinson’s patients who exercise at least two-and-a-half hours a week also experience a slower decline in their quality of life. Specifically, more recent studies have focused on the concept of intense “forced” exercise, such as boxing, suggesting that certain types of exercise may be neuroprotective by actually slowing disease progression.
Yoga focused on mindfulness — a mental exercise focused on accepting oneself in the present — also has been found to lower anxiety, depression and motor impairment in people with mild-to-moderate Parkinson’s disease.
https://parkinsonsnewstoday.com/2019/04/26/parkinsons-foundation-grants-programs-underserved-areas/

Studying Epigenetic Changes May Help Diagnose Parkinson’s Disease Earlier, Researchers Say

APRIL 26, 2019 BY PATRICIA INACIO, PHD IN NEWS.



Understanding and identifying epigenetic changes may become a potential strategy for early Parkinson’s diagnosis, when patients still lack the characteristic symptoms of the disease, according to a recent study.
Parkinson’s disease patients carry a unique profile of certain epigenetic marks — modifications that sit on top of DNA and control which genes can become activated or not — that change as disease progresses.
“Using this [epigenetics] approach, you could put patients at risk for PD [Parkinson’s disease] on certain therapies before symptoms arise,” Travis Dunckley, assistant research professor at the Arizona State University’s (ASU)-Banner Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center, said in an ASU news release written by Gabrielle Hirneise.
Parkinson’s disease is characterized by the progressive loss of coordination and movement. These symptoms are currently the basis for Parkinson’s clinical diagnosis. However, they appear when the disease is in an advanced phase, a time during which current therapies are much less effective.
“One of the biggest issues with neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s disease is that diagnosis is mostly clinically based, and it comes late in the disease — the brain is already degenerated, and it is extremely difficult to restore brain function at that stage,” Dunckley said.
To increase the likelihood of response to available therapies, identifying the disease during its early stages — before the onset of symptoms — is key.
“When physicians treat PD [Parkinson’s disease] patients, it is usually too late to change the trajectory of the disease. I am interested in early diagnostics to try to identify people prone to the disease before they get it,” Dunckley added.
While there is a genetic component to Parkinson’s disease — estimated to contribute to 40% of disease risk — environmental factors play a key role in the disease, namely by interacting with the genome (our complete set of genes).
Parkinson’s is “about 60% environmental — it’s much less genetic than many other neurodegenerative diseases,” Dunckley said.
One way that the environment interacts with the genome is through epigenetic changes — external chemical modifications to DNA that can turn genes on or off but that do not change the actual DNA sequence.
One type of epigenetic mark is the addition of chemical methyl groups that sit on top of genes and work as “switch off” or “switch on” signals. However, unravelling the role of these epigenetic marks in Parkinson’s disease is challenging.
“It is hard to link them without confounding variables in that there are a lot of environmental factors,” Dunckley said. “It’s difficult to say whether epigenetic changes are based on disease, environmental factors or a combination of disease and environmental factors.”
Dunckley and collaborators at the University California, San Diego(UCSD)Texas A&M UniversityHarvard University and The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), aimed to characterize the epigenetic landscape, specifically the changes in DNA methylation patterns (called methylome), over time in a group of Parkinson’s patients.
In the largest epigenetics study to date in Parkinson’s research, the scientists profiled the methylome of 189 patients and compared it to that of 191 healthy controls. After two years, the same analysis was performed to assess how the DNA methylation patterns changed in Parkinson’s patients versus controls.
The researchers found that the sites in the DNA that are methylated vary between Parkinson’s and healthy individuals, and that these methylation patterns change over time.
Patients receiving dopamine replacement therapy also had a different methylation pattern compared with untreated patients, with the patterns changing more in the untreated group — further supporting the link between epigenetic changes and Parkinson’s progression.
“The main findings are that one, the epigenome does change as the disease progresses. The second finding is that the PD medications themselves alter the epigenome,” Dunckley said. 
If researchers are able to identify a methylation pattern that is specific to Parkinson’s patients, clinical diagnosis can be made earlier and allow patients to receive treatmentbefore irreversible changes occur in the brain.
The researchers are expanding these early findings by performing the same type of analysis in a new subset of patients but for longer period of time.
“The next study we are doing is a replication and extension of this one to validate the findings and extend the observation period to five years,” Dunckley said.
“We are also including patients that are very early in PD [Parkinson’s disease] progression, patients who have symptoms that are highly predictive of future PD. The ultimate goal is to identify changes in these earliest stages of disease that can be predictive of future PD onset,” he added.
https://parkinsonsnewstoday.com/2019/04/26/studying-epigenetic-changes-diagnose-earlier-parkinsons-disease-study/

Thursday, April 25, 2019

Letter: Let’s support new ways to fight Parkinson’s disease

April 25, 2019   By Staff


This letter is in recognition of Tim O’Shei’s comprehensive report on the Parkinson’s Boxing in Kenmore.
My husband was diagnosed with the disease in 2017, and he began boxing at Parkinson’s Boxing immediately. His experience there has been life changing.
I would like to add that the owner and boxing coaches are positive, fun and also tough. They treat every client with utmost care as if each were a close friend or family member. When I watch my husband and other clients at the gym, my heart could burst with what a blessing Parkinson’s Boxing is for us all. 
I hope other insurance providers will follow Independent Health’s lead and offer Parkinson’s Boxing in Kenmore as a benefit to insured who wish to train and take their lives back! 
Malynda Irby Cassidy
Grand Island
https://buffalonews.com/2019/04/25/letter-lets-support-new-ways-to-fight-parkinsons-disease/

Havas Lynx launches Parkinson’s support website

April 25, 2019

Coincides with World Parkinson’s Day
Havas Lynx
Manchester, UK-based agency Havas Lynx has joined forces with illustrators to create a new online platform to support people with Parkinson’s disease.
Parkylife.com brings together a combination of stories, hacks, perks and profiles of those who have the disease.
“I was travelling from London on the train one evening and I saw a guy twitching and writhing about. The more he tried to hide it the worse it got. I said, ‘Don’t worry, I know exactly how you feel. I do the same, I have Parkinson’s’,” explained Matt Eagles, Parkinson’s Advocate and Head of Patient Engagement at Havas Lynx Group.
“Strangely his shakes began to subside - it was almost as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders.I smiled at him and said, ‘Parkinson’s isn’t the end of the world, you can turn potentially awkward situations to your advantage you know’.”
Employing over 350 people across offices in London and Manchester, Havas Lynx Group took the lead on the project, working with Matt to create a website and to start conversations on social media.
The project also saw the creation of a 52 pack of positivity booster cards, although Eagles added that it isn’t just a “pack of cards with advice on, but it’s a way of living positively with chronic illness, its unique, it’s never been done before and it’s changing the way people with Parkinson’s view their lives”.
Shotopop, one of the 50 illustrators who gave up their time for free, continued: “Parkylife was such a unique brief - to take a light-hearted approach on such a serious topic was inspiring and we didn’t need any excuse to make the world a slightly less serious place.
“We’re sure people living with Parkinson’s will love to see relatable, heart-warming moments from other people's lives.”
Another of the illustrators, Linzie Hunter also expressed her support: “I was honoured to be able to create and contribute artwork to the Parkylife project. I’ve been inspired, warmed and impressed by both the strength and humour of those living with Parkinson’s and by the stories and advice shared within the campaign.”
Parkylife.com, which was launched on World Parkinson’s Day, also features portraits of famous 'Parky' people, such as Vicar of Dibley co-writer Paul Mayhew-Archer, actor Alan Alda and comedian Billy Connolly.
http://www.pmlive.com/pharma_news/havas_lynx_launches_parkinsons_support_website_1285738

Approved Blood Pressure Medication Also May Treat Parkinson’s Disease, Animal Study Suggests

 APRIL 25, 2019 BY IQRA MUMAL 



Felodipine, an approved therapy for high blood pressure, is able to promote the clearance of toxic protein aggregates in mouse models of neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s, according to a study.
A common feature of most neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s diseases, is the accumulation of toxic protein aggregates within neurons, or brain cells. Buildup of these proteins damages the cells and leads to neurodegeneration in these disorders.
Toxic material is normally cleared from the body through a mechanism called autophagy, which refers to the process by which cells degrade and purge unwanted material, such as harmful protein clusters.
Because autophagy often is impaired in neurodegenerative diseases, researchers are interested in identifying chemical compounds that can stimulate this process and potentially improve the clearance of toxic aggregates and reduce disease symptoms. However, no such treatment exists yet.
One possibility is to identify an existing medication that can be used for this purpose. Therapeutic compounds frequently have multiple targets, which means the same therapy often can treat different conditions. It is typically easier and faster to repurpose existing therapies because they already have gone through clinical trials and been found safe for human use.
To try to find one of these medications that might induce autophagy and be suitable for treating neurodegenerative diseases, researchers at the UK Dementia Research Instituteand the University of Cambridge screened several different therapies that were approved for other indications.
They previously had identified an approved medication for high blood pressure and angina known as verapamil (sold under the brand names CalanCovera, and Verelan, among others) as a powerful inducer of autophagy. However, it does not cross the blood-brain barrier (a thin membrane that protects the central nervous system, including the brain) and is therefore not appropriate for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.
The researchers then screened a panel of similar therapies to identify any that actually would penetrate the blood-brain barrier and have strong autophagy-inducing effects. This led them to felodipine as the most suitable candidate.
Felodipine (sold under the brand name Plendil) is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of hypertension (high blood pressure). Laboratory studies indicated that felodipine promotes autophagy and clears a variety of toxic protein aggregates found in neurodegenerative diseases.
To further investigate felodipine, researchers tested the effects of the compound in animal models of Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
They performed a pharmacokinetic analysis to determine the optimal treatment regimen in mice that would mimic the concentration the therapy reaches in humans at currently prescribed doses. (Pharmacokinetics refers to how a compound is absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and excreted in the body.)
Results indicated that felodipine was effective at reducing the buildup of aggregates in mice with the Huntington’s and Parkinson’s disease mutations, as well as in a zebrafish model of dementia. Furthermore, long-term treatment with felodipine was associated with a decrease in signs of the diseases.
Notably, these effects were observed at concentrations of felodipine that would be safe for humans.
“These data suggest that this drug may have efficacy in humans with appropriate neurodegenerative diseases that may be ameliorated by autophagy induction,” the authors wrote.
“This is the first time that we’re aware of that a study has shown that an approved drug can slow the build-up of harmful proteins in the brains of mice using doses aiming to mimic the concentrations of the drug seen in humans,” David Rubinsztein, PhD, said in a press release. Rubinsztein, a professor of molecular neurogenetics at Cambridge, led the study. “As a result, the drug was able to slow down progression of these potentially devastating conditions and so we believe it should be trialled in patients.
“This is only the first stage, though. The drug will need to be tested in patients to see if it has the same effects in humans as it does in mice. We need to be cautious, but I would like to say we can be cautiously optimistic,” he said.
https://parkinsonsnewstoday.com/2019/04/25/parkinsons-treated-blood-pressure-medication-felodipine/