<h1>If a word in the dictionary were misspelled, how would we know?</h1> Steven Wright

Confucius say: "To know what you know and what you do not know, that is true knowledge." With that in mind, I offer this dictionary, written by stream of consciousness rather than alphabetically, of things you know or don't know.

• Parkinson's - a disease or condition that screws us (PWP) up by meddling with that part of the brain called the substantia nigra.
• substantia nigra - the dopamine factory that is continuously on strike for PWP.
• Dopamine - a chemical produced by the substantia nigra; dopamine helps to transmit instructions from the brain to other parts of the body. Unfortunately, for PWP, 80% of the dopamine cells have taken a holiday when we experience our first symptoms and this dopamine deficit means we gradually lose control of our movements. To date we can't stop the depletion of dopamine.
• Parkinsonian - a condition(s), the symptoms of which mimic the symptoms of PD, often caused by the use of drugs. It is sometimes used, incorrectly I think, as a synonym for PD
• idiopathic parkinson's - the type most of us have.
• Idiopathic - means "no known cause". I doubt that it means the obvious "pathetic idiot".
• Tremor - shaking in the hand or foot on one side of the body, will often spread to the other side. A better definition is "damned nuisance", especially when keyboarding.
• natural remedies for PD - are non-existent except for mucuna pruriens but that doesn't do much. So for now, stay away from naturopaths who tell you they can control the symptoms and you don't need drugs. Maybe next year a natural remedy will be discovered. In the meantime, only snake oil salesmen will tell you they can help.
• multiple system atrophy - don't worry, this is a rare (2 -3/100,000) condition, but it has similar symptoms to PD. I refer to it as PD+ or PD on steroids. Sufferers have problems with swallowing, digestion, blood pressure, heart rate, erectile dysfunction, fainting spells, tremor, etc, etc atrophy of all systems. It is difficult to diagnose because of its PD-like disguise. It moves quickly and death usually results in less than 10 years from dx.
• Lewy body dimentia - this is a scary one. It is characterized by a general decline in cognitive ability along with PD symptoms. It is like a combination of PD and alzheimer's.
• Levodopa (L-dopa)- a drug that converts to dopamine in the brain. It is usually taken orally and crosses the blood-brain barrier where it is converted to dopamine.
• Levadopa-carbidopa (sinemet) - 2 drugs combined. Carbidopa works to stop the levadopa breaking down before it crosses the blood-brain barrier.
• dopomine agonist - a drug that mimics the effect of dopamine. There are several DA's but the most common is pramipexol (Mirapex - same thing but easier to pronounce).

These drugs can have insidious side effects such as

• Excessive daytime sleepiness (got it)
• Visual hallucinations (nope, or maybe I might have some every so often, like mirages in the old desert movies.)
• Confusion (nope)
• Swelling of the ankles (got it)
• Dyskinesia (not as common as other side effects)(nope, no uncontrolled movements here)
• Compulsive behaviors (such as compulsive shopping, gambling, eating, and excessive sexuality)

Some of these compulsions sound like fun, but they are dangerous so don't take them lightly. Luckily, I don't have any, especially the last one -- rats!)

These are just a few PD buzzwords. There are many, many more. Alexander Haig once said "The warning message we sent to the Russians was a calculated ambiguity that would be clearly understood."

Have I achieved that goal?