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Worst symptom is one-sided tremor.  Medicine regime is 1 Sinemet
CR plus half regular sinemet (Atamet) 125/100 twice a day.  I
take eldepryl every other day and also take amantadine a couple
times a day.
 
Over the decade since diagnosis I have kept working, travelling,
driving.  I gradually have to less of everything due to tremor,
fatigue and the drowsiness coming from the meds.
 
The above is by way of introduction. A friend who is the director
of a health care facility for elderly male religious runs into
cases of Parkinson's and other things which I presume would be
parkinsonism or something like Parkinson's but not yet labelled.
 
He asked me to read and comment on an article someone gave him:
"Magnetic Fields in the Therapy of Parkinsonism" by Reuven
Sandyk, International Journal of Neuroscience, 1992, v. 66, pp.
209-235.  My summary of the article:
 
Sandyk reports on treatment of 4 males with a variety of
symptoms, such as, resting tremor, hypophonic, facial mask, slow
blinking rate, cogwheel rigidity, stooped, shuffling gait,
postural instability, lower blood pressure, micrographia.
 
The four took various medications:  artane, bromocriptine,
amantadine and levodopa.
 
The treatment involved applying electromagnetic stimulation
externally by applying an electronic device to the cortex.  In
all four cases there was improvement of the symptoms for a period
of 3 or 4 days.  The patients experienced mood elevation, clearer
thinking, less fatigue, clearer and louder speech, diminished
tremor, increased blood pressure, more rapid blinking and more
normal gait and posture.
 
A very summary theory of why magnetic fields effect these
improvements would be:  the pineal gland is impacted by the
magnetic fields and melatonin secretions are inhibited.
Melatonin is thought to inhibit dopamine production.  Therefore
melatonin inhibition would improve dopamine production.
 
Since all patients were taking pharmacological treatment it is
not know whether the magnetic fields alone would produce
beneficial results.  In addition it is not clear whether there
are negative effects of long-term treatment with magnetic fields.
 
The article also describes the use of this therapy with two
parkinsonian patients suffering from dementia.  There was
significant visuospatial deficits in both cases.  Drawing the
face of a clock was notably improved in both cases after
treatment.  In addition there were other notable physical and
cognitive improvements.
 
I have read a number of Parkinson newsletters on a regular basis
over the years but this is the first description I read of this
method.  I would appreciate any comments from people in this
group.
 
I am grateful for the kind help offered by subscribers to this
list.
 
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Pat McManamon
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