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Low-tech solutions

27 Jan 2025

Regular readers will know that I was diagnosed with Parkinson's a few years ago.

Since then I've been working very hard to manage and (as much as possible) mitigate the symptoms associated with this condition.

Upon diagnosis, the prevailing wisdom from the medical community was "just take the pills" and I was given a supply of Cinemet which is a concoction containing levadopa and carvadopa, substances which effectively boost dopamine levels in the brains of Parkinson's suffers.

After doing my research I discovered that the side-effects of this drug were almost as bad as the symptoms they attempted to treat so, putting on my "I do science" hat, I decided to do my own studies on a group of one (me) and see if I could come up with alternatives.

After reading literally hundreds of studies and papers on the subject, I started joining dots and here's what I found.

Parkinson's occurs because the cells in the brain that produce the bulk of the body's dopamine begin to fail. They can no longer produce enough of this neurotransmitter to sustain a good connection between brain and body.

The result is a myriad of symptoms that include tremors, dystonia (like a cramp but much longer-lasting), sleep disruption, bradykinesia (a slowness of movement that sometimes even becomes a total freeze), anxiety and more.

My goal was to some how come up with a way or ways to boost dopamine levels without resorting to exogenic chemical assistance. The problem with Cinemet and levadopa in general is that once you reach a certain level of dosing you suffer from dyskinesia which is the kind of swaying, bobbing motion that you often see Parkinson's suffers exhibiting.

I didn't want to be "that guy".

My first strategy was to find all the more natural ways of boosting dopamine production -- and there are a lot of them. Curiously, medical science didn't seem to really consider these much in Parkinson's treatment when I was first diagnosed.

I was already aware of the link between exercise and dopamine: When you exercise sufficiently, your body produces endorphins which, in turn, stimulate the production of dopamine. I was therefore quite suprised that the doctor told me that exercising was unlikely to have any benefits in the treatment of Parkinson's.

My "science hat" told me otherwise -- or at least suggested that I give it a go, so I did.

Wow... it was spectacularly effective and has been my primary management/mitigation strategy for the past four or more years. Now I walk at least 10-15Km per day and lift weights three times a week. The results are amazing.

A week or so ago, I did a full 25Km walk on a Saturday and on the Sunday I felt amazing. My hands were steady, I slept like a baby and other symptoms retreated well into the background.

Sadly, I did have a bit of a rebound on the Monday, after that dopamine hit wore off, but it was great to feel 99 percent normal for a day.

It's interesting to observe that *now*, physical exercise is considered a key element of treating Parkinson's symptoms. It seems that I was simply a few years ahead of the curve.

As I come up to the 5-year mark since diagnosis, I've discovered that this is a time when a lot of PD suffers have a marked deterioration in their situation. It seems that the disease can progress quite rapidly for a period of time at this point and indeed I have noticed things getting worse of late. By the end of the day I become pretty shaky, have some really bad dystonia and difficulty getting to sleep.

Clearly it was time to do more sciencing.

My latest strategy is based on the effect that music has on dopamine levels.

There's a mountain of research that indicates the connection between music and dopamine levels in the brain -- so I've started spending an hour just listening to my favourite tunes through a pair of headphones.

Success!

After an hour of this, my tremors have subsided and my body is incredibly still (for me) which allows me to nod off for about 4-5 hours of sleep. My wife also reports that I'm not having nearly so many RBD (REM-sleep Behavour Disorder) instances as I was previously.

I wonder if music will be added to the non-pharmaceutical treatment list for PD patients in the next year or two as well?

Just about the only really negative thing I'm left with now is a growing weakness on the left side of my body. Despite working out both sides equally, there's now a growing difference in size of the muscles on my torso and arms and when doing exercises such as pull-ups and dips, the left side gives out well before the right side. Even when just standing in a relaxed state, one shoulder now sits much higher than the other and it looks odd. Despite my best efforts, I've found no way to halt or reverse this change yet.

Parkinson's, although recognised as a condition, affects all those who suffer from it in slightly different ways. I have no doubt that what works for me would not work for everyone but in talking with hundreds of others around the world, it does seem that what I've discovered so far (wearing my science hat) does have general application. This leaves me wondering why all the medical research seems focused on coming up with new drugs rather than focusing on non-chemical treatment options.

I guess, to a hammer, everything looks like a nail and if you're a pharmaceutical research company there's no money in anything but selling drugs.

The cells that create dopamine in my brain may be failing but for as long as I can, I'll simply keep trying to come up with ways to convince those which remain to produce as much of the stuff as my body needs and there are a lot of different ways -- all we have to do is put our "I do science" hats on and not rely too heavily on those with a strong financial interest in making pills and potions.

Carpe Diem folks!

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