A case of remission ?
 

A clinical study has published details of a 78 year old man who, despite having typical Parkinson's Disease, no longer has Parkinson's Disease symptoms.

Researchers have presented the case of a 78-year-old male who, 16 years ago, was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease by a neurologist. The patient initially presented with left-hand tremor, stooped posture, shuffling gait, and frequent falls, which eventually progressed to bilateral motor symptoms after 3 years.

However, since 2012, his symptoms and signs have almost completely remitted, and he has been off all pharmacotherapy for that time. The accuracy of the initial Parkinson's Disease diagnosis is supported by : an appropriate clinical presentation, history of positive response to Sinemet, and an abnormal SPECT DaT scan. This case therefore suggests the possibility of the remission of symptoms in some patients. The authors propose that the patient's long history of meditation may have been one of the contributing factors of his improvement because meditation has been shown to release dopamine.

Parkinson's Disease is primarily due to insufficient dopamine. There is a tendency for Parkinson's Disease symptoms to get gradually and progressively worse. However, dopamine levels, even in Parkinson's Disease, fluctuate continuously. There is therefore no reason why dopamine levels and therefore Parksinson's Disease can not improve.

Reference : Journal of Complementary Integrative Medicine [2016]
K.Smart, R.Durso, J.Morgan, P.McNamara

Ahhh, the land of Parkinsonia is truly a mysterious place !

Wishing you all well,

Nigel

I wonder how that nun who was cured by praying to a dead pope is doing these days?

Better than the Pope !

That got me laughing this morning, thanks Nigel.

There have been some well documented cases of PwP who were in a clinical trial for a new drug, but despite having a placebo they responded extremely well!

Two of the individuals who did well sadly died in accidents (motorcycle and vehicle) but had graciously donated their brains to research. New neuron growth was discovered. All common belief is that was impossible, but the old neuron death was evident, but new growth had formed in the past few years.

I can not find the paper, but pretty sure it was the wonderful team of Neuroanatomists Heiko Braak and Kelly Del Tredici who wrote about that.

Meanwhile I'll stick to my Rock Steady Boxing, morning walks, and working with a Golden Retriever as it sure beats the alternatives.

I wonder what google has to say about it?