Is Parkinson's not a so bad disease and is easy to control?

Anonymous
Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 3:45 am Post subject: Is Parkinson's is not a so bad disease and easy to control?

Dear Doctor,

I was diagnosed as a Parkinson's patient in the year of 2005. Besides medications I do exercises in the gym daily. I spend two hours in the gym and I have two personnel trainers who help me to strenghten my physical mobility and body flexibilities. I do yoga,body combat,pump, Box and kick exercise and cardio training. I am normal and don't look like anything is wrong actually had been told by my doctor, physical trainers and members of my family. Though it is expensive to battle. Is Parkinson's not a bad disease and is so easy to control?

TeoKimHoe
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Dr. FernandezJoined: 20 Jan 2007Posts: 90
Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 3:34 pm Post subject:

Thanks, Tim. PD affects people differently. For some people, the symptoms are very mild, they don't even realize they have PD. Yet for others, they are devastated by the ilness.

Fortunately, for those with significant illness, we now have better drugs to help patients.

There are a few more factors that play a role into this:

1. presence of co-morbidities. PD patients who are affected by the illness who are otherwise healthy will tolerate the disease much better than those who also have heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc.

2. interaction with doctors. Pd patients and families who have a good relationship with their doctors have better adjustments of their medications.

3. caregiver support. PD patients who have good family and social support do better than those who do not.

4. Patient's outlook and attitude. Like any other illness, patients with a great attitude go a long way than those who do not.

Yours,_________________Hubert H. Fernandez

From my experience, I have learnt that all Parkinson's patient is different from each other, in many aspects such as symptomatology, rate of disease progression and response to treatment. Managing my Parkinson's patients has been made easier by respecting the differences between each Parkinson's patients - there are no "two Parkinson's patients who are identical". One day, a man came to my clinic and asked me why his 62-year-old wife, who suffered from Parkinson's, could hardly walk despite having the illness for only four years. "I read an article in the newspaper which described how an elderly Parkinson's patient, who had been having the illness for twelve years, was doing some rather strenous exercises in a gym. How come my wife can't do even 5% of this exercise?" he commented. As I have treated his wife for about six years, I could easily understand why she behaved so differently from the other "super-fit" Parkinson's patient. His wife suffered from severe anxiety and depression, while her Parkinson's was actually quite mild. In other words, what "crippled" her was her mood disorder, and not the Parkinson's. Almost all the time, she would just lie on the bed or sit on a chair. Whenever her husband tried to help her to stand up, she would complain of dizziness and feeling like falling down. In addition, she had numerous other symptoms such as blurring of vision, numbness of hands, palpitation, etc (which were the symptoms of anxiety). Her social life was almost zero - she stayed at home all the time and even refused to follow her children to the restaurant. Thus, an important factor that contributes to the varying response to treatment is co-existing psychiatric disorders. Most Parkinson's patients have anxiety or depression or both, in varying degrees, which I think are partly due to difficulty in accepting their illness (i.e. Parkinson's). Some Parkinson's patients are devastated by Parkinson's while others are crippled by the psychiatric disorders (anxiety / depression). Unfortunately, psychiatric disorders in PD are very often neglected by both the patients and doctors. Mr Teo is fortunate that he does not have any psychiatric disorder. In fact, he has a very unusually "outgoing" personality, which most Parkinson's patients do not have. Mr. Teo is an optimistic person who has accepted his Parkinson's, and he always tries his best to cope with his illness. It is this "optimistic" personality that has made him so different from other Parkinson's patients. Dr Chew Nee Kong, Kuala Lumpur.
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Parkinson's Is "Not Such a Bad Disease?"
by Patricia LightnerEmotional Impacts
Diane, a woman with Parkinson’s, recently explained an unfortunate experience.
I actually had a doctor tell me: "Parkinson's is not such a bad disease. It’s so easy to control. Look at you; you don't look like anything is wrong," I didn't even respect the comment by an answer. I was so mad.He doesn’t see me when I'm at the end of a dose, or my meds are not working, or he doesn't realize many reasons why it’s very difficult to live with. It’s a very expensive disease and a battle.
People with Parkinson's interact with people who do not have all the information about the disease or medical research.Keep in mind that these are opportunities for you to share some of your experiences and develop some understanding. Who knows? You may convince someone to be an advocate for Parkinson's disease and the science that could render a cure.


Dr. OkunJoined: 19 Jan 2007Posts: 251Location: University of Florida
Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 9:22 am Post subject:

Thanks for the wonderful note!_________________Michael S. Okun, M.D.