Monthly Archives: May 2019

Mediclal Marijuana Leave a comment

And now for something completely different…

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This is an article on the legal problems created by the politicization of medical issues:

Navigating Through the Haze of Cannabis and Patents

The article begins by pointing out an obvious conflict:

  • The US Patent Office has permitted patenting of Cannabis related innovations since 1942.
  • The Federal government has outlawed the possession, cultivation, and distribution of marijuana since 1970 with the passage of the Controlled Substances act.

An interesting timeline of the history of Marijuana (and hemp)  in the United States can be found at the PBS Frontline web site:BUSTED: America’s war against marijuana

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. At one, time, people were required to grow hemp, at another time, people were given draft deferments to grow hemp. I would be happy to see Cannabis legalized so that medical research could be conducted in a reasonable fashion. And so grandmothers don’t get arrested for carrying a small vial of CBD oil onto an airplane.

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Dance, Exercise, Research , , , , , Leave a comment

Progressively difficult or complex dance training is superior to repetitive physical exercise

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Yep, you read that correctly. This research was done using neuro-imaging and revealed that brain plasticity ( how experiences reorganize neural pathways in the brain) is increased by a program of increasingly difficult dance training. (The title of this entry was edited 04/28/2021 to make it more clear that the variable was increasing the difficulty, and not simply dance vs. exercise. ALL exercise is good, as long as not overdone, but to incorporate research findings into the program (like Power for Parkinson’s or Lew-Ortiz Pabon’s Apollo Rhythm Club do), takes some extra effort).

Dance training is superior to repetitive physical exercise in inducing brain plasticity in the elderly.

… Both interventions increased physical fitness to the same extent. Pronounced differences were seen in the effects on brain volumes: Dancing compared to conventional fitness activity led to larger volume increases in more brain areas, including the cingulate cortex, insula, corpus callosum and sensorimotor cortex. Only dancing was associated with an increase in plasma BDNF levels. Regarding cognition, both groups improved in attention and spatial memory, but no significant group differences emerged. The latter finding may indicate that cognitive benefits may develop later and after structural brain changes have taken place. The present results recommend our challenging dance program as an effective measure to counteract detrimental effects of aging on the brain.

On a personal note, I noticed during a year long period of reduced mobility that my Parkinson’s symptoms had progressed (or regressed, depending on how you look at it). Slurred speech was perhaps one of the more obvious or noticeable symptoms. That has now disappeared, though one has to be mindful to speak clearly and loudly in order to be understood.

Physical exercise of any kind is good, it seems. Weight resistance and other exercises can benefit from the high intensity interval approach. But move to the music, and join a dance class that increasingly challenges the brain (especially if you are classified among the elderly, even if you are Young At Heart).

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A study on the feasibility of high intensity interval training for PD people

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High Intensity Interval Training was conducted at a European gym called Speedflex, and one of the researchers was a former employee of the company. However, they do seem to have tried to be transparent and the company did not have any input or control over the design.

High-intensity interval training in people with Parkinson’s disease: A randomised, controlled feasibility trial

“No significant improvements in cardiac output, cognitive function or quality of life were seen”

  • High-intensity interval training appears to be feasible and acceptable in people with early to mid-stage Parkinson’s disease
  • Patient were able to consistently exercise at greater than 85% of their maximal heart rate across the 12 week intervention
  • Significant improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness were seen across the intervention period

 

depression, Parkinson's, Research , Leave a comment

Old drugs in new bottles

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An interesting development, or in this case, two interesting developments, is the finding that currently available medications might be repurposed for their neuroprotective effects. Here are two articles on two drugs that show promise.

This is a report on a hypertension medication that provides neuroprotection in mice and may be transferable to humans… Are mice brains similar enough to humans for it to work? A recent report on isradipine, another hypertension medication, reported no differences in symptoms between controls and those receiving the medications. We shall see.

Felodipine induces autophagy in mouse brains with pharmacokinetics amenable to repurposing

Nrct we have a case in which a tricyclic antidepressant, nortriptyline, has been found to slow down the aggregation of alpha synuclein proteins in the brain.

Nortriptyline inhibits aggregation and neurotoxicity of alpha-synuclein

 Not sure whether either will pan out, but anyone with either hypertension or depression could discuss these articles with their doctor(s) and come to a mutually agreeable course of action.

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Exercise, Parkinson's, Research , , , , Leave a comment

Put on your dancing shoes

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Two links to Internet URLs reporting on recent research.

Comparing Dancing and Fitness

Dancing can reverse the signs of aging

The first link is the actual research article. The second link is an article reporting on the first one.

The results of the research article are not quite as effusive as the non-technical news article. Which is to be expected from a scientific article – don’t claim more than the data actually supports. The “popular ” press isn’t constrained by the same principles.

Bottom line – dance movement therapy is good for you. In my area, dance classes are free of charge and accommodate all levels of mobility, including wheelchair bound folks.

Exercise, Music, Research , , Leave a comment

Dance, aerobic exercise and musical training

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Today we have a couple of links to articles on the effects of dance and music:

Effects of Dance/Movement Training vs. Aerobic Exercise Training

Abstract only, but the results appear to be in favor of Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) as positive. Aerobic Exercise Therapy (AET) improved cardiovascular health, though, so both aerobic and dance movement therapies should be used for health.

Executive and non-executive composite scores showed a significant increase post-training (F(1,37)=4.35, p=.04; F(1,37)=7.01, p=.01). Cardiovascular fitness improvements were specific to the AET group (F(2,38)=16.40, p<.001) while mobility improvements were not group-dependent (10m walk: F(1,38)=11.67, p=.002; Timed up and go: F(1,38)=22.07, p<.001).
Results suggest that DMT may have a positive impact on cognition and physical functioning in older adults however further research is needed. This study could serve as a model for designing future RCTs with dance-related interventions.

Next, a short article on the effects of musical training on brain plasticity.

The-Effects-of-Musical-Training-on-Brain-Plasticity-and-Cognitive-Processes

The link between musical training and its effects on brain plasticity have been studied since the early 20thcentury neuroanatomy research of Ramon y Cajal. In recent decades, studies have observed the contributions of musical training in enhancing auditory, motor, and language processing areas of the brain. The ability of musical training to impact behavior and critical thinking skills may also open the door for new methods of combating age-and illness-related cognitive decline(emphasis added)

In conclusion, whether or not one has a neurodegenerative disease or not, it is good advice to do aerobic exercise for the heart, dance for the mobility, and learn or continue to play a musical instrument to keep the brain plastic and elastic and fantastic.

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diet, Parkinson's, Research, Reviews , , Leave a comment

You are what you eat…

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But before we get into the articles about the gut microbiome, from 2015, a review of the various signs that predate full motor symptoms

non-motor and pre-motor symptoms of PD

Recent studies provide new insights on the frequency, pathophysiology, and importance of non-motor features in Parkinson’s disease as well as the recognition that these non-motor symptoms occur in premotor, early, and later phases of Parkinson’s disease.

This study (2017) looks at the progression of PD and problems with the bacteria in the stomach:
Progression of PD and gut dysbiosis
from the conclusions:

The total counts of intestinal bacterial decrease in the course of PD progression. Temporal profiles of lowering of bacterial counts are likely to be different from bacteria to bacteria, and also between the deteriorating and stable groups, which may be able to be exploited to differentiate patients with rapidly and slowly progressive PD pathology.

The search for biomarkers for PD goes for the gut (2018):
Gut Microbiota Dysfunction as Reliable Non-invasive Early Diagnostic Biomarkers in the Pathophysiology of Parkinson’s Disease: A Critical Review

future directions should therefore, focus on the exploration of newer investigational techniques to identify these reliable early biomarkers and define the specific gut microbes that contribute to the development of Parkinson’s disease. This ultimately should pave the way to safer and novel therapeutic approaches that avoid the complications of the drugs delivered today to the brain of Parkinson’s disease patients.

Another article on the role of gut bacteria in PD (2018): Parkinson’s disease and bacteriophages as its overlooked contributors

Our findings add bacteriophages to the list of possible factors associated with the development of PD, suggesting that gut phagobiota composition may serve as a diagnostic tool as well as a target for therapeutic intervention, which should be confirmed in further studies. Our results open a discussion on the role of environmental phages and phagobiota composition in health and disease.

A review of the relationship between the gut microbiome and PD (2018):
Microbes Tickling Your Tummy: the Importance of the Gut-Brain Axis in Parkinson’s Disease

Looking back a few years, one can hope that diet might be a way to affect the course of PD, if diet can change the gut microbiome (2014) :Diet rapidly and reproducibly alters the human gut microbiome

Long-term diet influences the structure and activity of the trillions of microorganisms residing in the human gut1–5, but it remains unclear how rapidly and reproducibly the human gut microbiome responds to short-term macronutrient change. Here, we show that the short-term consumption of diets composed entirely of animal or plant products alters microbial community structure and overwhelms inter-individual differences in microbial gene expression.

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Parkinson's, Research , , , Leave a comment

A couple of abstracts on sleep and restless legs

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Sleep quality as prodromal PD symptom

Although the above link only leads to an abstract, there is enough information to accept their conclusion that “in the general population, deterioration of sleep quality and duration are markers of the prodromal phase of parkinsonism, including Parkinson’s disease.”

Restless Legs Syndrome and whether or not it is improved by DBS is apparently not a matter of consensus RLS improved by DBS although, again, this is not a full text article.

 

depression, Music, Parkinson's, Research, Reviews , , Leave a comment

Searching for the secret chord…

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These came out of a search, so might have been previously covered in a post:

This review covers music performed in groups and is not directly related to Parkinson’s: Collaboration and improvisation

Music performance is inherently social. Most music is performed in groups, and even soloists are subject to influence from a (real or imagined) audience. It is also inherently creative. Performers are called upon to interpret notated music, improvise new musical material, adapt to unexpected playing conditions, and accommodate technical errors. The focus of this paper is how creativity is distributed across members of a music ensemble as they perform these tasks

This article does cover Parkinson’s – singing as a way to help with vocal issues and depression. Positive results, but not a randomized control type experiment, so conclusions are tentative:

Individualized singing program

Here’s an interesting experiment in which participants are asked to improvise music which reflects varied feeling states. Not sure how the results can be applied, except that creating music or dance/movement to express emotions is probably of benefit to the brains of people with Parkinson’s, regardless of the strength of the research.
Effects of music making

This study has gotten some wide distribution – on how musicians (people who play an instrument) react more quickly than people who do not. This article digest is from Science Daily (January 2017)

Play an instrument?

“fine” as they say on the sheet music.