Parkinson's Brain

     

    I am getting frustrated with my Parkinson's brain. I use to be so thankful for my brain, I still am thankful, I just wish I could put it in the repair shop!   My handwriting is difficult for me to read so it must be close to impossible for others to read.  I am still glad and grateful that I can write! I worked with Dyslexic students most of my career. I really cared about all of my students. I will never understand why it is so easy for some children to learn and so difficult for other children. I know about the saying........everyone is special in their own way and each of us have special talents.  I totally agree with that. However, kids are stuck in school all day long for at least 12 years and they have to do things academically that are extremely difficult for them. I think that most people just don't understand how hard the kids with learning disabilities have to work!  Just think about how frustrating it would be to do something that is extremely difficult for you to do.  If I had to do physics problems all day long for 12 years, I would want to pull my hair out strand by strand!  I knew exactly what each student had difficulty with, I almost felt like I could see inside their brains.(I know that I really couldn't do that).  I knew exactly where they would have problems when they read word lists or short paragraphs. I knew what to zero in on to help remediate their reading issues.  Now I feel like I know when I will have difficulty with something BEFORE it even happens. It's frustrating to have to live with a brain that doesn't take commands well! I still am grateful to have a brain at all! My brain is what classified me as smart in school!  My brain also is what made school easy for me because I had such a wonderful memory, I easily learned new information and easily recalled it when needed on tests or in practice!  I could zip through tests and was usually one of the first ones to  turn in my tests in college and grad school.  I remember in particular standing up and turning in my test paper in the Corrective and Reading Disabilities Class and my friend saying out loud.."are you, OK?" Everyone including the professor looked at me.   She thought I got sick or something! She later told me that she was on the tenth question and there were 50 questions on the test.  I just shook my head yes and turned in my paper. I am grateful that I have no signs of dementia(although my kids might argue with that) I have been reading about PILLS that are alleged to cure Parkinsons. 

I don't believe it but I hope it's true!  Now I feel like I can see inside my own brain when it is not functioning correctly. Maybe it is because I am reading so much and looking at so many brain images.  Pictures and images make a powerful impact!

I found this info online:In people with Parkinson's disease -- a motor disorder -- many people will not experience cognitive decline. However, others will go on to develop dementia and will experience cognitive decline. This happens when proteins in the brain build up into clusters called Lewy bodies.
I like the part about "many people will not experience cognitive decline." I hope i am one of the "many people!"

     I recently read a study that combined using ultrasound and IV injection of microbubbles in mice.

Using ultrasound coupled with the intravenous injection of microbubbles lessened brain damage in a mouse model of early Parkinson’s and may provide a noninvasive way to successfully deliver therapies into the brains of people with the disease, a study reports.

    When I have difficulty getting up from a chair or the couch I  or the bed,   I picture my brain trying to do what I am transmitting it to do but there isn't enough Dopamine to complete the task easily. I think of those tiny transmitting neurons spinning their wheels as they try to get some Dopamine!  It reminds me of that commercial about a frying pan and using it to describe about how drugs affect a brain!