Hot town; summer in the city

Here I am, still in the Florida heat. Yesterday it was 29C. It has been near that everyday since we arrived and I have not experienced any significant symptoms. Maybe a finger twitch but nothing of any consequence. It must be the heat, I say to myself, but I think not. I think lack of stress and lack of symptoms are directly proportional. These past days I have been completely relaxed. No stress or distress. A lack of stress must be the reason for the lack of symptoms.

What role does stress play in PD? Apparently, a pretty significant one.

According to a new Northwestern Medicine study published Nov. 10 (2010) in the journal Nature, dopamine-releasing neurons in a region of the brain called the substantia nigra lead a lifestyle that requires lots of energy, creating stress that could lead to the neurons' premature death. Their death causes Parkinson's disease.

I have always thought there was a difference between "stress" and "distress". I embraced stress. I felt that stress was healthy, a positive motivator up to the point it evolved into distress. Today, I hesitate to find any difference in the two concepts. Now stress and distress are synonymous and I have to find ways to avoid them, to slay, or even tame, that dragon. A PWP should avoid stress in ways that avoiding stress itself, does not create stress by that avoidance. The individual must find those ways in his or her life to relax and avoid stress.

May I suggest sex or a chocolate bar.