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Thursday 16 August 2018

"Ze brain, Ze brain"

apologies to Hervé Villechaize
The Brain, it is just a hunk of gray matter but it is more powerful and mysterious than any supercomputer. It is amazing. It is the god watching over the rest of the body. It controls all the systems; although it does have a few subalterns to take some of the burdens away from the Master. We learn more and more about the brain every year, in an effort to cure neurological problems such as our dark shadow, PD.

I recommend the book "Brain Storms, The race to unlock the mysteries of Parkinson's Disease" by Jon Palfreman. I won't go into the content of the book but, you should read it. It is somewhat uplifting and it is simply a good read by a PWP. It chronicles advancements in the treatment of PD and the search for a cure. There is much talk about, naturally, the brain, and that got me thinking about its complexity, how to keep it healthy and satisfied.

The brain can be helped to be healthy through exercise, nutrition, and thinking. It is like every muscle in the body; it works better in a healthy state To be in best shape, keeping your health requires straining the body's other less glamorous muscles with physical stimulation. The brain is different. It is royalty in the body and requires mental challenges. It might even be infallible.

Bring out the crosswords.

The brain is omniscient but is it infallible?

You can always fool the brain through positive thinking, but the oddest example of fooling the brain is the placebo effect.

Earlier in my journey, I was approved for a clinical trial to see if caffeine had a positive effect on the progress of PD. We were randomly divided into 2 groups, one taking caffeine, the other a placebo. For several weeks, until the project was brought to an end (the data showed no effects, good or bad), I was certain I was becoming less parkie,i.e., tremors at a minimum, stiffness lessened. Brain Storm details a study in which the symptoms of some participants in the placebo group showed less intensity. Each of their brains believed it was beginning down a path for a cure but like them I had fooled myself. What that says about the power of positive thinking in finding a cure for PD would make a good research project. Something like "Can we cure with placebos?" I leave the logic to you. As for me. I have a crossword to finish.

“I am a brain, Watson. The rest of me is a mere appendix.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone s

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