{"id":2289,"date":"2024-06-10T19:48:34","date_gmt":"2024-06-11T02:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/billzarchy.com\/blog\/?p=2289"},"modified":"2025-10-03T19:20:48","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T02:20:48","slug":"facing-up-to-parkinsons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billzarchy.com\/blog\/facing-up-to-parkinsons\/","title":{"rendered":"Facing Up to Parkinson’s"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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First published in The Transmission, Dartmouth ’68 Newsletter<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I was first diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s disease three years ago, I shared the news with my family. My sister asked if I was shaky, and I recalled the disturbing footage I\u2019d seen of actor Michael J. Fox, who has been afflicted for decades now and seems to be in twitchy perpetual motion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My answer: no, I\u2019m not shaky, but I\u2019ve learned since then that those kinds of movements and tremors are just a few of the possible symptoms of Parkinson\u2019s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have definitely lost some strength and dexterity in my left hand. And I\u2019ve experienced some unevenness in my walking gait. Several people who know me well have noticed this and commented. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other possible symptoms include reduced facial expression, also called frozen face, hypomimia, or facial masking. I\u2019m trying hard to keep my face \u2014 and my attitude \u2014 lively and active, with singing, storytelling, exercise, and careful attention to my general health. So far, so good. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<< See below for a list of possible Parkinson\u2019s symptoms, from The Mayo Clinic >><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SOMETHING WRONG<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I began to suspect something was wrong a couple of years before my diagnosis. Our new daughter-in-law is deaf, and Susan and I decided it would be a good idea for us to study American Sign Language. We enrolled at Berkeley City College, where several faculty members had written and published a book series known to be the \u201cgold standard\u201d for learning ASL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The classes were challenging but rewarding, and we both developed some ASL fluency. As usual, though, Susan\u2019s manual skills and general comfort with learning languages outshone my feebler efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some ASL signs are made with just the dominant hand, and some are two-handed and asymmetrical. But many are two-handed and symmetrical. It was this last group that first screamed to me for attention: I discovered that my left hand often couldn\u2019t mimic or keep up with my right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn\u2019t think much about it, as I could fake my way doing some of the symmetrical signs one-handed. But soon I noticed that my typing was deteriorating, my keyboarding accuracy decreasing. More troubling, though: I had developed a small, occasional twitch in some of the fingers of my left hand. So I might type a paragraph, select the text, then look away for a moment. When I looked back, the selected text had disappeared, replaced by dddddddd or sssssss, because I was inadvertently holding down the D key or the S key. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, this is maddening for a writer. My magnificent pearls of wisdom were being overwritten by a stupid little twitch!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, I consulted my Kaiser doctor, and he conducted a quick neurological exam during a video visit, then referred me to a neurology specialist. He told me I was in the early stages of Parkinson\u2019s disease and prescribed a Levidopa\/Carbidopa combination pill to help my brain produce Dopamine and control my symptoms. Later he added a prescription for Rasagiline. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SLOW TO ADVANCE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I met with a new neurologist recently, and she told me that when PD appears late in life (and let\u2019s face it, fellas, we are now late in our lives), it often is very slow to advance, and most people with PD have a normal or near-normal life expectancy. She said that my symptoms could easily take another ten years to advance, at which point I\u2019ll be 87. I think what she was trying to say politely is that, at that age, it probably won\u2019t be the Parkinson\u2019s that kills me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike many of you, I\u2019m not a doctor. I might have some of the details wrong, and I\u2019m not advocating any particular mode of treatment. But if you\u2019re experiencing any of the symptoms on the list below, understand that they might not necessarily be inevitable consequences of aging.<\/em> They may be treatable symptoms of Parkinson\u2019s<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I urge you to consult your physician and get checked out. I know that Parkinson\u2019s is a progressive disease, but a number of medications are available to help mitigate the symptoms. They\u2019ve helped me a lot, so far. Without them, typing this article would be a much more cumbersome process, and tying my shoes would be a daily adventure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My doctors have also stressed to me that regular, vigorous exercise can help slow down the progress of the disease. About a year ago, Susan and I joined a local dance class here in Berkeley affiliated with an international organization called Dance for PD\u00ae. Originally founded in New York over 20 years ago by the Mark Morris Dance Group, Dance for PD\u00ae now offers weekly, therapeutic, \u201cresearch backed\u201d dance classes at over 300 locations, in 28 countries around the world, for people with Parkinson’s, their families, friends and caregivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<< See articles listed below to read about some of this research. >><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DANCING<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are half a dozen class locations in New York City, and even more here in the Bay Area. The dance movements, accompanied by a live piano player, are designed to help combat the disease. We are seated for the first half of each 75-minute session. The teachers are specially trained as Dance for PD\u00ae instructors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Olie Westheimer, director of Brooklyn Parkinson\u2019s Group, first suggested that people affected by PD might benefit from dancing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(She) was clear from the start that she wanted a real dance class, and this has proved to be the crucial factor in the class\u2019s popularity. \u201cThe most important thing is that people find joy in the movement and a sense of community just as in any dance class,\u201d said (David) Leventhal, (current Director of Dance for PD\u00ae and a founding teacher with John Heginbotham and Misty Owens).
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The classes, which begin seated to increase confidence in balance and stability, move from simple point-and-flex leg exercises to sweeping sequences across the floor.\u00a0
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\u201cPeople will stand up straight, walk with long strides with their heel hitting the ground and swing their arms \u2014 all things that are atypical of Parkinson\u2019s,\u201d said Carroll Neesemann, whose disease was diagnosed 11 years ago. \u201cI don\u2019t know if it happens to everyone, but I lose my symptoms when I\u2019m there. And the pleasure of the experience is that it\u2019s not a therapy session. They teach us as if we were any students, and that makes me feel good.\u201d<\/div>