Parkie Personality?

Supposedly there is a Parkinson's personality.  A study from the year 2000 lists characteristics including, "industriousness, punctuality, inflexibility, cautiousness, and lack of novelty seeking."

Does that sound like you?  It doesn't really sound like me, or like my mom or my uncle, who also had PD.  I've noticed, at least among those still able to be mobile, a robust cheerfulness and a willingness to poke fun at ourselves.  Certainly for people dealing with annoying and constant reminders of what we can't do, I've found Parkies to be upbeat,  inventive in figuring out how to get around the barriers that our bodies present to us, and generous in sharing solutions they have learned.  But then again, I see the same things in Parkie caregivers. I have been fortunate that I haven't been hit by the depression that hits so many with PD;  I see other Parkies at exercise classes in particular, and I find exercise to be anti-depression.

A study in 2012 found that there really isn't a Parkie Personality.  That lack of novelty seeking is probably due to low amounts of dopamine (because there is no dopamine "high" from novelty), and that cautiousness is probably due to mood problems like depression and anxiety.

Speaking of studies about personality, there are even studies showing that it's harder for Parkies to lie, probably because lying requires use of executive functioning, and we're lousy at that.  I'll be the first to say, "Yup.  My executive functioning su---, um, stinks."

It seems that a lot of this work relates to finding a biomarker that identifies PD early, but I don't think we're there yet.

Image from Pixabay.

Scary overdose of supplement

Just had a real scare.  Pins and needles in the extremities that are most effected by PD were getting worse.  My neuro tracked it down to having more than twice the normal amount of B6 in my body.  Like a lot of pwp I take supplements to deal with imbalances caused by PD, but I wasn't taking B6, or B-complex, or even a multivitamin.

You can't get an overdose of B6 from food, so it had to be coming from a supplement (could have been B1, B2, magnesium, C).  I stopped all my supplements and the pins and needles are slowly improving.  It will take a few months to find out if there is any permanent damage.  So trying to make my PD better actually made things worse.

Which supplement had stuff in it that's not on the label?  Who knows?  But about one third of supplements have materials in them that aren't on the label - for example, "natural" pills to improve, um, male performance often turn out to have sildenafil in them - Viagra.  Not so natural.

How can I protect myself, when the FDA doesn't regulate supplements the way it regulates medicine?  There is actually a way - USP is a program that manufacturers can participate in, demonstrating that the contents of a supplement are actually what's on the label.  For more information on USP: http://qualitymatters.usp.org/what-letters-usp-mean-label-your-medicine

So I've gotten very conservative about supplements.  If it's prescribed and I get it via pharmacy, like my D2, that's fine.  If it is USP verified, that's fine.  Otherwise I'm not going to take a supplement.  Lesson learned. 

Image Pixabay and Free Vector

Feelings about finding "the cure"

Since my mom was diagnosed with PD about 30 years ago, I've been hearing "the cure is right around the corner" for a long time.  Turns out that it's hard to know what causes PD, so the "cure" is more elusive.

But I keep track of lots of PD research, so I know just how broadly the research is done, and how worldwide it is.  We know now that PD can have a genetic component; at the time, Mom and her brother both having PD was just an accident, or maybe something in their environment.  Besides that, nobody knew then that vigorous exercise could have such a profound effect on the disease. 

Like many of us, I scour forums and research reports for tantalizing possibilities, but more for what slows progression and what makes life easier right now - because that's where I live, in the now.

One gift that PD has given me is the ability to live today, to not waste time on the past, and not to worry about the future.  Yes, I've looked into the paperwork for a personal health care representative, and I know what extreme treatments I don't want, and when I am going to say, definitely DNR (Do Not Resuscitate).  Yes, I know that with all the exercise, I am still likely to get worse.  If there is a treatment that works for me - great!  But right now, I am enjoying that I can cook, read, weave, teach, enjoy the outdoors.

In terms of that elusive "cure," maybe I've become Scarlett O'Hara and, "I'll think about that tomorrow."