6th and final part of the mini-series about Jon Stamford and his experiences with Parkinson's. The series ends on a conciliatory note with a nice anecdote that describes the famous “splinter in your own eye” in a very vivid way.
As a reminder, here is the background to the series:
Sometimes it is difficult or embarrassing to talk about the symptoms. Patients may be reluctant to share their experiences with their family doctor, or may not even be aware that this is a component of Parkinson's disease. These short films are designed to provide clues to patients by addressing uncomfortable issues and encouraging them to make a connection with their illness and seek medical help.
A thought-provoking video about living with early-onset Parkinson's disease. I published the video for the first time about a year ago. Thousands of new readers have now been added, from whom I don't want to withhold this small work of art.
Some of you will recognize your own hand as a metaphor for your illness.
Sometimes it is difficult or embarrassing to talk about the symptoms. Patients may be reluctant to share their experiences with their family doctor, or may not even be aware that this is a component of Parkinson's disease. These short films are designed to provide clues to patients by addressing uncomfortable issues and encouraging them to make a connection with their illness and seek medical help.
largely unnoticed by the public, the people who develop Parkinson's are getting younger and younger. It is now no longer uncommon for the neurodegenerative disease to appear even before the age of 30.
This naturally poses a particular challenge for the medical profession, given the variety of symptoms in younger people, Parkinson's is least likely to be suspected.
A feature from RBB on the importance of the Mediterranean diet.
When we talk about exercise as an effective non-drug therapy for Parkinson's, we unconsciously mean the typical sports activities from rehabilitation and physiotherapy.
But what matters is not just that you move, but rather how you move.
Science has long since proven that movements that are carried out contrary to expectations have a measurably higher effect.
For example, simply walking backward affects the dopaminergic system far more and more effectively than walking forward.
Private lecturer Doctor Heiko Gaßner from the University Hospital Erlangen, together with the Erlangen regional group of the German Parkinson's Association, has developed a movement training concept for Parkinson's patients.
So that the patients can repeat their exercises after the rehab regardless of time and place, he and his team and Wolf-Jürgen Aßmus from the Erlangen regional group have packed the training including instructions into eight videos of about 30 minutes.
This resulted in a unique video project that is second to none. We would like to thank Doctor Gassner very much for allowing us to present the videos as part of our mobility offensive in the Parkinson Journal.
As an introduction to the project and as a kind of "making of", I conducted an interview with Wolf-Jürgen Aßmus. Wolf Jürgen Aßmus, also suffering from Parkinson's disease, is a member of the dPV regional group in Erlangen and is responsible for the image, sound and editing of the videos.
I can only recommend everyone to use the exercises for their own "home training", because the following applies in particular:
Exercise is one of the few promising non-drug therapies for Parkinson's.
while I'm writing the post, I'm sitting on the roof terrace in Barcelona. The Spanish traffic is bustling around me. It is incredible for me to be sitting here today writing this post. Because two weeks ago I had my four-year anniversary: At the end of August 2018 I had my second disc surgery. I can still remember damn well how intense that time was. How frustrated I was that after my first surgery in 2016 I had to go through all the pain, restricted mobility and fears again.
But I have learned in recent years that my Parkinson's can be put in its place with sufficient exercise. Unfortunately, it is not the case that this would be enough as a motivation, because there is still the option of taking half an L of dopa more or if it is difficult to take an LT.
When I'm asked what you can do about back pain, I always mention one aspect: sleeping.
Just lying down is not enough. Restful sleep is essential and is often underestimated. Very few people are aware of the impact restful sleep can have on health and thus on back pain.