SING, sing a song

Impairments in breathing and voice are substantial hurdles (in PD)that cause a significant drop in the quality of life.

Voice impairments impact 60-80% of Parkinson's patients. Their voice can become monotone and display less variety in volume; there may also be a reduced vocal intensity and pitch, and a harsh, breathy voice.

Standard Parkinson's treatments do not target these aspects with the same level of success as the motor symptoms. Deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus, which relieves many of Parkinson's classic symptoms, can, in fact, make voice alterations worse.

....(a study at Ohio State Universiy) consisted of 27 Parkinson's patients who attended group singing sessions either once or twice a week. Before and after the 8-week trial, swallowing measures and voice measures, such as the patient's vocal range and how long they could hold a note, were recorded.

Therapy sessions involved vocal exercises, followed by renditions of popular songs, including "You Are My Sunshine" and "Show Me The Way To Go Home."

The researchers found that, after 2 months of singing, there were significant improvements in pitch duration, vocal loudness and swallow control.
( taken from "Medical New Today article: Singing improves Parkinson's symptoms and Quality of Life by Tim Newman 4/18/15)

Okay, the time has come to expose my voice to the world. Somebody told me I have the voice of a little bird - a flipping parrot!!!

Only 3 hours before showtime. Am I nervous? Not a chance. They have been forewarned.

BTW, I will be signing autographs following the session.

comments

I am still getting the hang of this blog stuff and when I recently searched for comments, I noticed quite a few them deleted.  For some, deletion is what I intended; for others, I did not intend to delete them.  I apologize to legitimate commenters.  I will delete any comment that is in anyway commercial.  All other comments, good or bad, are welcomed.

Gimmie the new age religion

I am not afraid of dying, although I am not looking forward to it. In my philosophy, death is just another part of our journey to who knows where, but it will be interesting being a part of the energy of the universe.

A friend of mine died recently. He lived across the street from me when we were teenagers. I had not seen him in the past 50 years, so maybe "friend" is an exaggeration but still, his death upsets me. At 72, it focuses my thoughts on my future and those of my loved ones. At best, I may have a decade left to make my mark, but this PD thing kind of interferes with any bucket list I may have, or will have, concerning those 10 years.

I don't fear death so much as I fear its prologues: loneliness, decrepitude, pain, debilitation, depression, senility.

Those are the words of Mary Roach who went on to metaphorically describe death - "like a holiday at the Beach". I don't know about that. I do, however, believe we continue to "be" after death, in one form or another, but on a higher plane. I am not particularly religious, but I accept the first law of thermodynamics - energy can neither be created nor destroyed. If that is true, the energy of me will simply change form upon my death and although I won't be able to run a 4-minute mile, I will eagerly become a part of the energy of the universe. Besides, I have never been able to run that fast.

What has all this got to do with PD?

Absolutely nothing, unless you create your own philosophy involving death and PD. I can't decide that for you, but the basis for my philosophy is positive thinking and I continue in my role an eternal optimist. As for you, when you are formulating your own philosophy, keep this in mind:

Science without religion is lame
Religion without science is blind.

Einstein

What's up doc?

Saw my doctor yesterday. He is a good family doctor and I have learned more from him about PD than from my neuro. He confirmed my shoulder problems are caused by a rotator cuff problem and I can expect months of pain. Other than that, I am in perfect health (here I touch wood), but, "Months"!!!

I remember playing hockey in my youth. In those days there were no helmets or face masks....Well, there was a sort of helmet, a large leather patch at the back of the head attached with straps to a smaller patch of leather at the front. I didn't even wear that. This was before Jacques Plante and I took a wicked shot that hit me on the side of the nose and eye. For a while, I took the blue/red/yellow/black shiner like a badge of honor but it took a long time before it disappeared. I was sick of it after a few weeks.

I am sick of shoulder pain. It has worn out its welcome.

We PWP must take care not to blame every ache and pain on PD. We might miss something serious.

Aside from my shoulder pain, things are going better for me. I no longer fight with my sheets and standing from sitting is definitely improved. I remain a perpetual optimist.

Hit me with your best shot, PD. I can take it.

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I'm singing through the pain

For the past few months, I have had a pain in my left shoulder. It prevents me from lifting my elbow too high and it interferes with my boxing. Believe me, throwing a left jab is painful after 3 or 4 jabs. No amount of physio has helped. It is bothering me while I type this airing of grievances.

But wait! The pain has moved to my right shoulder in addition to the left. "Must be PD pain," I tell my wife.

You non-PWP have to realize, every ache or pain we suffer, we are quick to blame PD and get on with life. This time, however, I will be seeing a doctor next week to get his opinion.

One thing I know for sure is that PD has all but robbed me of my voice. My fault, the therapist gave me exercises to do daily. I did them each day for about a month. I should be doing them daily for the rest of my life. Not likely to happen. I have decided to try a different tactic - singing in a choir with a bunch of other PWP. They say it doesn't matter if I can't carry a tune. I hope that is the case since I have a voice that could sterilize a frog at 40 feet.

The aim of the choir is "Our goal is to provide a fun environment for those who like to sing. Our hope is that singing will prove to have therapeutic benefits in strengthening the muscles associated with speech, breathing, and swallowing, along with improving facial expressiveness.

Lofty goal, wouldn't you say. I will do my best but hereby warn all frogs to stay outside of 40-foot radius at all time lest they don't want little frogettes.

Hey, maybe vibrations produced by a choir of PWP will have a therapeutic effect on my shoulder pain. You never know with this disease.

I will keep you posted.

A different kind of light.

You have been newly diagnosed and you look into the future and you see a light at the end of the tunnel. You strain to see beyond the light. It is too murky and it seems so far away. You are scared, but you have time to study tunnels. You devour every word and you learn that tunnels can't kill you but they can create havoc in your life. It is the havoc that is frightening.

Your body takes you toward the light, stopping occasionally when a promising figment of another kind of light flickers and brightens your mood, but your optimism slowly dies. You have been in the tunnel some time when you realize the light at the end of the tunnel is a locomotive and it is coming your way. What will you do?


Ask a veteran. They too saw the locomotive's lights and they will confirm:

• PD is a progressive neurological condition of the brain. The brain is being attacked. Cells are dying. It looks like the brain is losing, and will lose, the war.
  
• In the meantime, you will have to deal with some or all of the physical and non-physical side effects brought on by the attacker's relentlessness: tremors, stiffness, muscle spasms. yada, yada, yada.
  
• The attack on each victim can be decidedly different. There is no way to predict the future, so relax and don't worry about the stage you have reached. For now, it is not the end of your world.
  
• Remember the PWP launched a counter-attack in the 50's, collimating in the discovery of L-Dopa and dopamine agonists in the 90's and later DBS. Each, in its own way, dealt with the symptoms of the enemy's attack. The victims had won some battles but the war continued.

  The question is, when will it be over?

The veteran's response is, "When we have won." Then the war will be over. The good news is, we are starting to believe that the light is a victory, not a locomotive. So quiet the urge to dwell on your problem. Positive thoughts are necessary. Well.... that, exercise and nutrition can contribute to your weapons in your battle.

Doesn't hurt that scientists at places like the MJF Foundation are looking for the atom bomb that will destroy PD forever.

“There comes a point where you no longer care if there’s a light at the end of the tunnel or not."

- Ranata Suzuki