Dear Robert: The reason for my letter this morning is the topic of meditation and the brain. From Sarah McLean’s book Soul-Centered, I learned that it changes the brain. She cites a journal named Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, Jan. 2011. After just 8 weeks of meditation, 27 minutes a day, they could see beneficial changes in the brains of a group of meditators, and the changes remained after the meditation period.

Among those changes was a ‘taming’ of the amygdala, which would mean less anxiety. (And I think those changes are possible even if we have our usual daily upsets, which we could deal with mindfully.) The people who partook of the experiment were most likely healthy. I guess the best way to find out if it’s helpful for us with PD, is to start a practice. I find it hard to get started, though. It’s somehow easier to do something, like exercise, than to sit down and do nothing. I need reassurance.

Stresses are not just about the daily ups and downs. I find that during a perfectly easy day, I can be made to tremor by just somebody looking at me in a certain way. Deeply embedded memories of a teacher looking for the right answer or your mother asking you where you’ve been could be the culprits. Nothing I can prepare for – it just happens out of the blue.

I also wanted to point to a seemingly good program, The Healing Journey. The person, who developed it, is a Canadian, Alastair Cunningham, OC, PhD, C Psych. Unfortunately for us, it is written for people with cancer. It is offered in many cancer support groups throughout Canada. It has withstood the test of time – 20 years or so. In the introduction, the author maintains that the program could be used by anyone with a  chronic illness. Part of the reason we get sick is a high allostatic load (stress) and a way to soften the impact of that is, among other things, to meditate. You can download the program without cost. If you as much as look at part one, I think you’d be excited. It might even help you not to have too many days of doubt you mentioned yesterday. Mind-Body ‘medicine’ works.

I emailed dr. Cunningham some time ago, and his secretary was kind enough to reply. In a nutshell, she thinks the program would be beneficial for us with PD, but that it would need to be rewritten for our needs, and that would involve money. I might bring it up with our local support group. Meanwhile, I’d better get started meditating!

I enjoyed your show yesterday, as usual. I was a little unnerved by the Mirapex and heart problems, as I haven’t heard about that before. Also, the Tetanus shot – what to do about it?

Best of luck with your new book Language of Recovery. I will most definitely order a copy.

Thanks for all you do,

Canadian Fan

What a fantastic overview that provides a sweet overview of meditation and the brain. You offer rich resources for people to access for free. Yea!

I worked with author Nancy Welch to create an amazing book which explains how people can find a meditation practice that works for them. Through my collaboration with her and interviews with all the experts on meditation, I learned a great deal about its beneficial impact. Nancy wrote a book titled Medicine and Meditation which has a focus on meditation for persons with chronic illnesses.

As for what to do about lingering effects of tetanus inoculations … keep in mind this may not be an issue for you, though several independent resources have found it to be problematic for a surprisingly large proportion of persons – perhaps as high as 25% to 30%. There are two options as I see it. The first requires that you work diligently to strengthen your immune system so that your body can address the issue naturally. The second is to use sound or light frequencies to invite the little critters to depart your body.

Of course there are many other approaches which can be also effective. Know that there are alternatives out there that are helping people reverse the neurological symptoms that they currently experience that have been caused by a wide spectrum of factors. The connection between meditation and the brain helps sort what therapies can be useful to any recovery program.

Robert Rodgers, Ph.D.
Founder 2004
Parkinsons Recovery
www.parkinsonsrecovery.com

I was diagnosed with PD in September 2004 by Chadwick Christine, the chief Parkinson’s researcher at UCSF. He spent almost two hours with me, and is a wonderful human being–that made a huge difference to me in the way I was able to handle the news. He prescribed Lexapro for me, and gave me a very large sample package of Mirapex. I took only the first medication; it turned me into a psychotic, but I had to wean myself from it gradually. A hellish time. I found a first-rate neurologist at Virginia Mason in Seattle, John Roberts. He has been marvelous for me–meticulous, conservative with meds, deeply attentive.

I have tremor-dominant PD–lucky me; I don’t have hallucinations, freezing, rigidity (except in my neck–ouch!) , and my tremor is hardly noticeable except when I’m agitated about something (but it’s in my non-dominant hand). I do have what I call Head Symptoms–horrendous anxiety (about NOTHING), near-panic, an acute sense of dread, etc. These episodes occur at irregular intervals–I could have as many as six a day in the past, often accompanied by tachycardia which scared me to death.My cardiologist put me on a beta-blocker (metaprolol) and this eliminated the tachycardia, but not the acute angst. For that I take a Xanax when needed (usually no more than 2-3 a week). But I have a feeling of intense pressure inside my head WITHOUT PAIN; just a feeling that my skull is too small for my brain. It is an awful feeling, and accompanied by some disorientation.

I have noticed definite cognitive changes over the past year especially. It is very difficult for me to take in new informatioon, especially of a technical nature. Any kind of instruction manual is like Greek to me. I easily get confused. My neurologist laughs when I say I’m probably experiencing the onset of PD dementia, but…

What I do for my PD: SWIM! Quilt (I design and hand-quilt art quilts. I think they are very good–but their main value is that they are my bliss, and I have NO tremor when working on them–or on my collages, of which I also do many, with great pleasure. I do not believe in the American model of “fighting” a disease. I’m just trying to learn from it. So far I have learned a lot about myself–most of which is unwelcome news (e.g. I am very impatient, irascible, have an exaggerated sense of entitlement, etc.) I never ask WHY ME? with respect to PD: I feel blessed that I DON’T have ALS, MS, or any one of a number of other neurological conditions.

I exercise like crazy: an hour of yoga and Pilates six days a week, gym 3X weekly, swimming ditto, as much walking as I can manage with a bum right knee. I believe exercise is KEY for me! For meds, I take one 25/100 carbolevodopa 3X daily along with a 1 mg. Mirapex tablet. I also take 1200 mg. of Coenzyme Q-10 daily. I drink in moderation–understand the risks for breast cancer, but it really helps with PD tension. I’ll be seeing Dr. Chad Christine next week for an annual checkup. His special field of interest is the NON-motor symptoms of PD–the things that most bedevil ME.

Karen Cook