to know it's the same author. Thanks, Rick, for finding the abstract. The full article, which our neuro gave us, was fascinating for me. It highlighted the many things that commonly occur prior to the typical PD signs: REM sleep disorder (with a pretty good explanation of it, to boot), constipation, and olfactory dysfunction, among others.

What I especially liked was, if I remember correctly, his discussion of the various types of neurons involved, not all of which are dopaminergic, so if PD were just about dopamine, then all of those symptoms would be improved when one began taking dopamine....but we all know they are not. In fact, sinemet has next to no effect on my husband's sleep (or lack of same), constipation, or sense of smell. Oddly, we found that when we were still using the nicotine patch, it would pretty much fix any constipation we were grappling with...that's not dopamine.

I wonder what this author has done since October of 2007 when he published the article I referred to...when I get a chance I may give him a ring. I have found researchers are very generous with their time and knowledge when you call them...maybe I can learn something and if I do, I'll certainly share with everyone here.