Get up, Stand up, and you might experience cognitive deficits as well.
“Stand Corrected” talks about a study in which it was found that folks who suffer Orthostatic Hypotension when standing up also show some loss of cogniitive function, which is corrected when lying down,
Systematic review of studies involving Nordic Walking and Parkinson’s was conducted. Due to differences in study designs, can’t really say whether NW should be included in exercise treatments for folks with PD.
Original of this story at: Medical News Today web site 21 June 2017
The exact causes of Parkinson’s disease are unknown, but an important hallmark is the buildup of damaged alpha-synuclein protein in dopamine-producing cells.
The new study reveals evidence that two fragments of alpha-synuclein can trigger T cells to initiate an attack by the immune system.
The researchers tested blood samples from 67 patients with Parkinson’s disease and control samples from 36 healthy patients.
They exposed the blood samples to fragments of proteins found in brain cells, including fragments of alpha-synuclein. The blood from the controls hardly reacted, but T cells in the blood from the Parkinson’s patients had a strong reaction to defined fragments from alpha-synuclein
The finding suggests that certain variants of MHC – such as those associated with Parkinson’s disease – may cause T cells to mistakenly identify the alpha-synuclein fragments as pathogens and thus trigger an autoimmune response that destroys the offending cells.
A lot of work still needs to be done,, but it could help to provide a diagnostic test for risk or early stages of PD, which is sorely needed.
I wonder – Could you get allergy shots with alpha synuclein protein fragments to reduce or eliminate the autoimmune response and thus keep T-Cells from attacking the dopaminergic neurons?
I had my DNA analyzed by 23AndMe and in addition to getting some somewhat innocuous reports on my genetic makeup (including the revelation that there is about .5% match each with Askenazi and African groups somewhere in my ancestry, plus some Neanderthal genes) my data has been anonymously included in nine published articles/studies so far, including:
Live long and Prosper!
Medscape reports on new research results from the International Conference on Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders, held in Vancouver, BC, Canada June 4 – 8 2017.
Pictures of Cats and Dogs suggest identification of high risk for Parkinson’s dementia.
When viewing pictures of cats and dogs with no distortion, medium distortion, and strong distortion, Parkinson’s Patients did worse than controls in distinguishing between cats and dogs in the medium distortion condition, pointing to possible improved tests and treatments to prevent dementia in Parkinson’s.
Autopsy studies of patients with PD confirm that this area of the brain — the infero-temporal and parieto-occipital cortex — is affected, she noted. “So we already know that there is some clue that the visual processing part of the brain is important.”
Current visuo-perceptual tests measure only one or two aspects of visual processing and tend to be “too easy,” said Dr Weil. “Everyone does very well on them and by the time they do badly, their disease may have progressed quite a bit. We need trickier tests.”
As well, current tests measure visual processing only in small numbers of patients. Online testing enables access to large numbers of patients.
…
“People think of PD as a disorder of movement but it’s much more complex and affects much more than just movement.”
A key question then, she said, is how does PD affect the brain? “Whatever it is that causes PD doesn’t just involve the deep part of the brain, but also involves the thinking and memory parts, and the fact that people have trouble with these tests suggests that those bits are involved.”
Contrary to what had been thought for many years, psychology as a science has within the last few years done research into nostalgia, and has found that it can be positive in its results.
It has been so good, in fact, that the University of Southampton in the UK has created a Nostalgia Center.
And to do research, they’ve created a Nostalgia scale for measurement.
some other overlapping research involves music and nostalgia
At UC Davis, they study how music and nostalgia interact.
It’s all good.
Dancing keeps brain’s white matter together The alternative is that as you get older, the white matter in your brain gets thinner, and there goes a lot of your higher functions.
Dancing can keep you young at Heart? At any rate, it can’t hurt. Unless you’re dancing on the edge of a razor, perhaps.
http://source.colostate.edu/study-dancing-may-offset-effects-aging-brain.
Just trying to clear up some space in my outbox.
Same thing we do every night, Pinkie – SING!!!
Okay, if you caught the reference to Pinkie and the Brain, you probably already like to do stuff that stimulates the neurons with witty references to arcane bits of history, pop culture, and the like. So you won’t be terribly disappointed if I caper about with just a few links to reports on and research on how singing benefits the brain and the lives of those who sing.
http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4448634.stm
How singing makes you happy (summary article and its sources below:
Can Music provoke involuntary body responses? Now I’ve heard everything – using music to provoke salivation!
Here’s a sample of links to Gut Microbiota For Health’s website and some of the research articles they’ve published, mostly in the last year. One talks about the linkage between certain bacteria and motor system disorders, another about relief for constipation for Parkinson’s patients, Another is a compilation of several articles, and finally, an article that explores the gut to brain relation regarding Parkinson’s, and to top it all off, the relationship of the bacteria in your stomach to the chemicals in your brain, and how the various microbial communities communicate. Life goes on within you and without you, it would seem.
“Harm from a weeks overeating may be canceled by exercise”
That’s the limit to the good news, though. The article also reports that even occasional binging can cause problems, and a week of overeating could have a negative effect on insulin sensitivity. Exercise could protect against this metabolic damage.
For certain, a lack of exercise and an unhealthy diet have been linked to obesity and metabolic syndrome. The article is at this link: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/313881.php
related article “Healthy living linked to higher brain function, delay of dementia”
A diet high in vegetables and fruits leads to better cognitive functioning, and when combined with exercise, the effect is extended downwards to those who reported eating half as many vegetables.
the original research article is at http://jpubhealth.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/10/28/pubmed.fdw113
Mayo Clinic researchers found that it only takes 1 mutation in the PINK1 gene to increase the risk of early onslaught PD. Until this report, it had been thought you needed to have 2 mutated genes to make it happen. Here are links to the pages: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/313885.php or
Heterozygous PINK1 p.G411S increases risk of Parkinson’s disease via a dominant-negative mechanism
bob's brain: living well with a movement disorder and other comorbidities 