Biking could diagnose Parkinson’s variants

We’ve already written about biking being a likely benefit to those with Parkinson’s disease, but apparently the good news with biking doesn’t end there. Studies have found that the ability to ride a bike can help diagnose whether an individual has Parkinson’s disease, or if they’re afflicted with atypical parkinsonism.

Out of 111 parkinsonism sufferers in the study, the loss of biking ability with those eventually diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease only occurred in two patients, whereas 34 who lost the ability were diagnosed with atypical parkinsonism.

Since the study took place in the bike-obsessed Netherlands, where residents ride their bikes more than their cars, the study may not apply across a larger segment of the Parkinson’s disease afflicted population across the globe. However like with many other studies, any new information we come by in the fight against Parkinson’s will always be welcome.

Read the complete article here.

Speech patterns could help monitor Parkinson’s

British and American researches may have found a suitable alternative to troublesome hospital visits when it comes to tracking the development of Parkinson’s disease. By studying over 6,000 speech recordings from study participants, computer algorithms can now very closely analyze symptom severity and return reliable findings on speech detection alone.

The study also revealed that speech impairment is linked to the average overall severity of other Parkinson’s disease symptoms, meaning that speech analysis could accurately determine symptom severity, and that in the future, analysis could potentially happen over a phone call instead of a hospital visit.

Read the article.

The Aging Revolution Event for seniors comes to West Vancouver

The Aging Revolution Event for Seniors – Age Independently, Gracefully, Purposefully

Event will be held November 7, 2010 from 1-3:30 p.m. at the West Vancouver Seniors Center and is open to the public, free of charge

Carolina and Jay Orosa of Home Care Assistance, a leading provider of non-medical in-home care for seniors, are producing and hosting the first ever, Aging Revolution Event on Sunday, November 7th, at the West Vancouver Seniors Center from 1-3:30 p.m. This inaugural event is open to the public, free of charge, and will offer valuable information, resources and presentations for seniors and adult children on aging well, increasing quality of life and longevity, lifestyle choices and activities, eldercare planning, etc.

“We are very excited to be hosting this event because we believe that there needs to be a paradigm shift in the way society views aging,” said Carolina Orosa, Co-Owner of Home Care Assistance. “We see this event as being the forum to jumpstart that shift and enlighten seniors and their adult children about how to age with grace and purpose. We also want them to be aware of the various resources in the community that are available to help them plan for the future, maximize their independence and sustain a high quality of life.”

The Aging Revolution Event will include the following:

• Fifteen plus booths featuring various community resources catering to seniors
• Presentations by senior care industry leaders which will inform and inspire all who attend
• Complimentary tea and sweets
• Prizes from participating companies

The industry leads that will speak at the event are:

Stay Fit to Stay Vertical – Angela Sealy, Coordinator. Active Choice Program (UVIC). Her background as a Psychologist and extensive experience facilitating groups helps her successfully encourage physical activities through conscious choice.

The 3 D’s of Parents Every Adult Child Should Know – Peter Silin, MSW, RSW, Principal, Diamond Geriatrics.  He has worked with seniors over 30 years on various issues and provides services such as eldercare consulting, counselling, and case management.

Brain Gain – Creative & Intellectual Activities – Yoying Orosa, RSW, Therapeutic Program Director, George Derby Centre. She is a music therapist and social worker with over 25 years of exploring the use of music and the creative arts to stimulate the physical, emotional, cognitive and spiritual well-being of seniors.

Ed Kry, Chair, Elder College Program, Capilano University.  Aside from being committed to continuing education for seniors, he is also a very active member of the community, serving as the Chair of the North Shore Cardiac Rehabilitation Society.

Happy to 102, An Inspirational Story on Aging Well – Olga Kotelko, holds multiple track and field world records. She is a 91 year old athlete who competes to this day and is a living example of how to age with purpose.

For more information about Greater Vancouver Home Care Assistance please visit: www.homecareassistance.com or call us at 778-279-3634.

The Aging Revolution Event is sponsored by: Park Royal Shopping Centre, North Shore News, Hollyburn House and produced by Home Care Assistance and Christine Monaghan.

Michael J. Fox’s experience with Parkinson’s

CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta sat down for an interview with Michael J. Fox to discuss living with Parkinson’s disease, and revealed quite a few interesting details about what Michael goes through every day. For starters, Michael’s always lucid public appearances rely greatly on medication that allows him full control of his faculties. He also has to wear special shoes in the morning to help with the stiffness, and his degraded muscle control has predictably made daily activities like brushing teeth more difficult.

The good news is that his foundation is still aggressively doing research towards finding a cure for the disease. As bleak as it may seem for those living with Parkinson’s at the moment, the fact that there are inspiring leaders like Michael J. Fox gives hope to thousands who may one day be cured.

Watch Dr. Gupta’s interview.

Music therapy could benefit dementia and Parkinson’s disease sufferers

It’s been said that music is food for the soul, but recent studies have shown that it could be beneficial for your body and mind as well. Research done by Petr Janata, Associate Professor of Psychology, at the University of California found that the parts of the brain that that best responded to music “[stayed] healthier in Alzheimer’s patients longer than the other brain parts and [had] the capacity for emotions and other sensations.”

What this means is that music could potentially help stimulate Alzheimer’s sufferers no matter the stage of their condition. Listening to music evokes memories of childhood and youth, and serves to relax and soothe patients as well. In addition, music also helps with coordination and stimulation in Parkinson’s disease patients:

Parkinson’s and stroke patients benefit, neurologists believe, because the human brain is innately attuned to respond to highly rhythmic music; in fact, says Sacks, our nervous system is unique among mammals in its automatic tendency to go into foot-tapping mode. In Parkinson’s patients with bradykinesia, or difficulty initiating movement, it’s thought that the music triggers networks of neurons to translate the cadence into organized movement. “We see patients develop something like an auditory timing mechanism,” says Concetta Tomaino, cofounder of the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function in New York City. “Someone who is frozen can immediately release and begin walking. Or if they have balance problems, they can coordinate their steps to synchronize with the music,” improving their gait and stride. Slow rhythms can ease the muscle bursts and jerky motions of Parkinson’s patients with involuntary tremors.

Play classical music to begin the calming process (but keep it to under an hour; patients were observed to become agitated past that), and sing and play instruments with your elder loved one. It won’t just help with motor functions and brain activity, but it’ll give you some quality time with them as well.

Read the article here.

Possible Parkinson’s vaccine undergoing testing

Incurable or untreatable diseases often feel like a death sentence, so it’s no small consolation to receive news that researchers in Houston, Texas have come up with a likely treatment for Parkinson’s disease.

Mentioned simply as a new compound, the treatment “prompts the immune system to generate antibodies which attack the buildup of alpha-synuclein, a protein known to accumulate in the brains of people with Parkinson’s.” The protein, alpha-synuclein, is what studies purport as a major contributor to the occurrence of the disease and is what this compound combats.

According to MyFox Houston’s report, if the initial observations hold, the vaccine could be placed in human clinical trials within the next two years.

Read the article here.

Six Secrets of Parkinson’s Disease

Like many other mysteries, Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a condition surrounded by myths and fallacies. Considering that more than one million people are afflicted by it, and more are being diagnosed with it every year, the spread of what’s true and what’s outrageous rumor can be rampant. Channel 7 News, an ABC affiliate out of Denver, uncovers six secrets of Parkinson’s that may help allay some of the fears surrounding the disease.

One of the more interesting observations is tremors don’t always accompany Parkinson’s disease, and that some of the more real symptoms of it are anxiety, depression, sweating, erectile dysfunction, and bladder problems.

Here’s a quick list of some of the more glaring findings from the article:

• Some PD medications can bring about compulsive addictions to matters like gambling, shopping, or eating
• PD doesn’t just occur in older people; there are existing cases where PD has affected people under 40
• Exercise can slow the progression of PD

Read the rest of the article here.

HCA Vancouver in the Globe and Mail!

We were featured today in the BC edition of Canada’s leading newspaper, the Globe and Mail! We really love how the article and the interview turned out! Click on the image below to read it: (After clicking the image, move your pointer over the image and it should turn into a magnifying glass. Click again on the image to zoom in on the article.)

Sergey Brin’s race to prevent Parkinson’s

Sergey Brin often finds himself in the news for his association with Google (he co-founded the company and is worth around $15 billion), but few are aware of the part he’s played in the ongoing fight against Parkinson’s disease. A gene mutation places Brin’s likelihood of developing Parkinson’s at about 50%, although a schedule filled with exercise (Brin is a competitive springboard diver) and other remedies brings his self-assessed risk down to about 10%.

An interesting aspect of the article mentions that most people who are told that they are genetically predisposed to developing a disease like Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s are expected to receive the news badly. This hasn’t been the case. Subjects have in fact been taking the news in stride and used it as motivation to adjust their lifestyles in order to help stave off the development of the disease.

Doing what you can now to prevent the disease from happening seems to be the overriding theme of the article, as Brin’s investment of millions of dollars into Parkinson’s research is remarkable primarily because he still hasn’t developed the disease, much less showed symptoms of it. And while most of us won’t be able to afford the genome analysis he received (his wife founded a company that analyzes people’s DNA), there are enough telltale signs in our genetics that we can glean from our family trees to urge us to adjust our lives to be more healthy and hopefully Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease-free.

Read the whole article here.

What you can do to prevent falls

Soon after the line “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” became a pop culture catchphrase, it lost much of its original context. What remains unchanged is that unintentional falls in the home account for many senior deaths, and in fact is the leading cause of injury-based fatalities for those 65 and older, according to this article. How often do falls happen? One out of three seniors in the US experience a fall each year, and every 18 seconds an elder is treated in an emergency room for a fall-related injury.

Perhaps most distressing is that the fall itself may not necessarily be the worst part of the event:

Often although many people may have a fall, even those who are not injured can develop a fear of falling. This fear may cause them to limit their engagement in activities. Unfortunately, this often results in loss of strength and a downward cycle of decreasing activity and vitality – which can in itself, lead to increased risk of falling.

The article suggests doing an inspection of your elder’s living space to reduce fall hazards, and evaluation of their medication to limit side effects. Having a care giver watch over your elder can also help mitigate the risks.

Read the article here.