Placebo/Therebo: time for action
 

My thanks go to Tupelo3 for raising the issue of the placebo effect again:

https://www.neurotalk.org/parkinson-...explained.html

It is almost traditional at this stage, following a new posting about the placebo effect, for me to suggest that we make our own placebos; that we engineer them to have maximum effect; and that we should not limit ourselves to totally inert compounds/actions, but go further and investigate potential therapies that we believe may have an effect. I call such an intervention a "therebo" (from THERapy or placEBO).

A good example of a therebo would be curcumin. There is some evidence, but not proof, that it helps PwP, either by having an anti-inflammatory effect or through inhibiting the aggregation of alpha-synuclein.

Well, I think the time for inaction is over. Let us get something off the ground. Let's start small, with a therebo that can be administered and tested over the internet.

Over the last four and a half years I have measured my PD by doing a computerized version of the side-to-side tap test. In this test, using only your left index finger, you type q followed by p as many times as you can in 30 seconds. You then repeat with your right index finger only. The results are stored anonymously on the website.

I have found that my scores when "off" have improved from 16.26/13.66 (left/right) to 24.06/18.14.

Part of the improvement is down to training, but part may also be caused by neuroplasticity benefits. Indeed, I think my decline due to PD has been slower than the average in my peer group. So, although I don't expect it will work for everyone, I think side-to-side tap testing is a therebo that's worth trying.

If you would like to do the side-to-side tap test go to:

Parkinson's Measurement > PDMeasure: home page

Your initial visit will take about 10 minutes and subsequent visits about 2 minutes.

At any time, whether you're registered or not, you can see everyone's test scores by going to:

http://www.parkinsonsmeasurement.org...Statistics.php

John