Carbidopa and B6... Is there something to worry about?

Wed, 03/07/2018 - 13:35
My husband takes carbidopa, I learned about carbidopa in medical school, but I haven't ever felt the need to dig too deeply into the mechanisms underlying carbadopa’s effects… until a few days ago when I was given the following article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4211847/ The title alone made me skeptical — “The Parkinson’s disease death rate: carbidopa and vitamin B6.” Published in a relatively obscure journal, by individuals from non-academic institutions (not necessarily bad, but not the norm), I wanted to see what their claims were based on. So I read… and boy did they throw around scientific jargon. The article is not one that presents data to support claims. Instead, it’s a review/opinion piece. Typically, reviews are a great place to learn about a field. But here… my Scooby-senses told me that each “fact” may or may not be true. Perhaps because I’ve seen my own papers mis-cited, or perhaps because there were so many claims worded in absolutes (which you almost never see from true scientists), I decided to dig.

Exercise Guide

Wed, 03/28/2018 - 14:04

Before you begin our individual exercises and workouts, please read this guide, so that you will get the most out of our program.

Exercise Types

You’ve probably heard terms such as anaerobic, aerobic, cardio, strengthening, interval training, and possibly slow-twitch muscle fibers and fast-twitch muscle fibers. This all sounds complicated, but in reality, for most of us, it is sufficient to classify exercises into two broad (and overlapping) categories: strengthening and cardio (cardiovascular activity).

Does Diet Really Matter?

Wed, 03/07/2018 - 13:54
At Parkinson’s on the Move, we stay away from endorsing any particular diet plan mainly because there are so many factors that go into how we individually react to a particular diet. Trends come and go. Diet fads come and go. In the end, we are left to our own devices to sift through ideas to formulate our own. We must choose who to believe, what to believe, and go from there. Ideally, we can base these decisions on sound research. But, as is the case with the majority of lifestyle interventions, these studies are flawed. At the end of the day, you aren’t studying dietary or lifestyle modifications in a closed environment. You have compounding factors.

Walking (more) Normally

Wed, 03/07/2018 - 13:53

Odds are that you, like me, have days where your legs (and body) simply will not cooperate. Your feet feel stuck to the ground, your knees won't bend, and your legs just won't move. You worry that you'll fall. You visualize yourself getting stuck and needing assistance to get home. What can we do when that happens? Well, rather than staying home and doing nothing, we have to rethink how we approach walking. It's up to us to figure out ways to continue moving. 

What do I do? Well, here are four things: