Date: Thu, 22 Jun 1995 09:55:49 -0700 From: Robert Fink <[log in to unmask]> To: Barbara Patterson <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Delmarva Parkinson Newsletter PARKINSON'S NEWSLETTER of the Delmarva Chapter, American Parkinson Disease Association June 1995 - 4049 Oakland School Road Salisbury, Maryland 21801-2716 1-410-543-0110 +--------FAX (410)749-1034 -----------PRODIGY PNFX85A-----------+ +----------------------A O L W I L L M M S J MEETING TUESDAY JUNE 27, AT 1:00 ATLANTIC GENERAL HOSPITAL, BERLIN, MARYLAND CHANGES IN A.P.D.A. NATIONAL LEADERS Dr. Abraham Lieberman, M.D., has announced his resignation as Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board of the American Parkinson Disease Association, the top medical position in the organization. There are other well qualified Parkinson's disease specialists on the Medical Advisory Board of the A.P.D.A. No announcement of a successor has been made. It is rumored that Dr. Lieberman has joined with the National Parkinson Foundation, but we have received no official confirmation. Last month Mr. Frank Williams resigned his post as executive secretary of the A.P.D.A., the most influential paid position in the association. Early this year Mr. Williams and Dr. Lieberman both wrote letters to a major leader of another national organization [with copies to A.P.D.A. chapter presidents] which were emotional and extremely divisive. They were so strong that it could make cooperation between the national organizations difficult. The changes in leadership may heal some old animosities and lead to greater cooperation among the various national Parkinson's groups. Movement toward cooperation among the various national Parkinson's organizations has already begun. WE ARE GUESTS OF ATLANTIC GENERAL Our next meeting will be held in the education / conference room of Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin, Maryland. Many of our group drive to Salisbury from Ocean City, Berlin, or south-eastern Delaware to attend our meetings. It seemed only right that we should have a meeting in the eastern part of the area we serve. Atlantic General is the new hospital in our area, and we should make ourselves aware of where it is and what it has to offer. Our meeting this month will be a support group type meeting. There is also news about changes at the national office and changes in the availability of neurologists in our area, and there is more news about surgical treatment of Parkinson's. A brief guided tour of the hospital facilities will follow. We should be through about 2:15 to 2:30. There is a pleasant small cafeteria known as the A.G.H. Cafe [Where the elite meetS to eat] next to the room we will use. The food is good and reasonably priced. Be sure you know how to stop the frozen yogurt machine, or you may have far more yogurt than you really want. 1995 WALK-A-THON $3,683.59 The annual Walk-A-Thon is a success. The receipts for the 1995 Walk-A-Thon are $3,683.59 so far, and our expenses are zero. It is not too late to make your 1995 Walk-A-Thon pledge. I still have a few pledges to solicit and a few to collect. Get your pledges in as soon as you can. we still have a few 1995 Walk-A-Thon T-shirts to give away in any size you want _ so long as the size you want is extra large. BRUCE LOBAR, M.D. MOVES TO VIRGINIA Dr. Bruce Lobar, one of the four general neurologists in Salisbury, is moving to Staunton in the Blue Ridge Mountain area of Virginia. He saw his last patient in Salisbury June 12, but his office has remained open to allow patients to pick up their records. This creates a definite shortage of neurologists. Drs. Bird, Baumann, and Peet will have to put in many extra hours to absorb his patients. There is no automatic referral of Dr. Lobar's patients to any other neurologist, so each of his patients will have to make his or her own arrangements to see another neurologist. Dr. Baumann says there is little chance of having another neurologist move into Salisbury before summer of 1996 in spite of the fact that a new neurologist could just walk into a going practice. Usually a doctor who leaves a one-man medical practice will be able to sell the practice to a new M.D. coming in or at least collect a percentage of the first year or two's billings. Dr. Lobar's office is simply closing. If you are one of Dr. Lobar's patients, you should arrange to get your records from his office for the next neurologist you use. Your next visit to a neurologist may last longer and therefore cost more since you will be a _new patient_ again. Maryland's lower Eastern Shore needs another neurologist and at least one more doctor in internal medicine or family practice. NOTES ON SIGHT FROM THE APRIL MEETING Our April meeting featured Dr. Gary Rubin, Ph.D. and associate professor of ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Clinic in Baltimore. Dr. Rubin brought and demonstrated some testing materials not usually used by our local ophthalmologists but used in the SEE [Salisbury Eye Evaluation] program. Recently several medical journal articles have reported that Parkinson's patients score low on spatial contrast sensitivity tests. Clinical testing for contrast sensitivity is made with a brilliant white eye chart which has large very black dots at the top, less black dots in the center, and, I am told, dimmer grey dots near the bottom. The one-page chart seems simple and over-priced at several hundred dollars per chart, but the printing process required to produce precise black density is not easy There is no _cure_ for lack of contrast sensitivity. Another test shown was for detecting _eye dominance_ and stereo vision which is used for depth perception. A decrease in depth perception can make accident avoidance more difficult when driving or walking. Test pages for color blindness were demonstrated, and there was just the right number of color blind males in our audience to indicate that we are probably no different from the general population in the area of color blindness, but we do score low in the number of colors we can detect. Double vision, particularly double vision when looking at an object within a few inches of the eyes, difficulty reading at a fixed speed, and trouble moving the eyes from the end of one line of type to the beginning of the next are probably the result of decreased muscle control which may result from Parkinson's disease. The meeting was supposed to end at 2:00, but the questions for Dr. Rubin kept coming till almost 2:45. Johns Hopkins hopes that the SEE program will become the standard for senior eye evaluation by which all other eye programs in the world will be measured. SLOWING THE AGING CLOCK Findings on Melatonin by Ed Shaner, D.D.S. of Ocean City, MD If you are interested in slowing your aging clock and the prevention of cancer, read THE AGING CLOCK, the l993 proceedings of the Stromboli Conference on Aging which investigated current means of slowing the aging process and preventing cancer. Fifteen new papers were presented that suggested the hormone melatonin may be the single most important component of a life extension and cancer prevention program. Unfortunately, U.S.doctors show little interest in melatonin as a therapeutic agent, whereas it is well known and used in Europe. Melatonin is a hormone secreted by the tiny pineal gland located at the base of the brain. It governs the diurnal cycle of the body, indicating when we should sleep and when we should _get up and go._ Neuroscience professor Richard Wurtman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reports that test subjects dropped off into deep sleep after taking small doses of melatonin. Sleep scientist Mark Roseland of the NASA Ames Research Center at Mountain View, California, states: _Our volunteers fall asleep in five or six minutes, while those on a placebo take much longer._ ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES_Most antioxidants have difficulty passing through cell membranes and sub-cellular compartments. Melatonin, on the other hand, passes through these with ease. It seems to be a very specific scavenger of the damaging hydroxyl free radical. As a protectant, it should prevent cell damage and extend longevity. ANTI-AGING_In a study done on mice, significant increases in immune function occurred in both young and old mice when melatonin was administered. Anti-oxidants are thought to protect the tolomeres (ends of chromosomes) from damage and thereby protect genes located on the chromosomes. Strong immune systems promote longevity . Treated mice lived longer. ANTI-CANCER_Melatonin plays a well documented role in the prevention and treatment of breast tumors whether or not they are estrogen dependent. In a brand new study, men with prostate cancer were found to have no circadian rhythm from melatonin. In a second study, men with prostate cancer showed a 65% reduction of overall blood serum levels of melatonin, compared to matched controls. Since melatonin declines drastically as we age, it has been recommended we take it as a supplement. According to The Life Extension Foundation,melatonin may be one of the most important life extension therapies available, and one of the least expensive. Melatonin is a natural product of your pineal gland and as such is safe for healthy persons to take as a supplement. However, there are contra-indications for certain stages and types of cancer, so cancer patients should consult their physicians for advice. The strategy to achieve longevity is to raise hormone levels to those we enjoyed during youth when aches, pains, and degenerative conditions were absent. While aging cannot be reversed, perhaps the experiments with mice indicate THE EFFECTS OF AGING can be avoided or minimized and healthy longevity extended. The book FINDINGS ON MELATONIN (proceedings from the Stromboli Conference) can be ordered from the ANNALS OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. Compiled by Edward Shaner, D.D.S. and Parkinsonian, May l995. This is the first of several invited columns to appear in this newsletter. There is a tendency, according to a recent thus far unpublished study of Parkinson's patients, for Parkinsonians to concentrate heavily on their Parkinson's problem and ignore other health problems. Melatonin as a sleep aid helps some Parkinson's patients. There have been many postings about melatonin on the PARKNSON [not misspelled] list server on the Internet. Melatonin is considered to be a holistic medicine and is available in health food retail and mail order stores. W.J.[Editor] TO GET TO ATLANTIC GENERAL HOSPITAL >From the east or west, take US50 to Route 113 South <to Snow Hill, not to Berlin!> and get into the left lane immediately. At the traffic light turn left [Do not make a U-turn!] onto East MD 346. [If you are coming from the north or south on 113, this is the first road south of US50] Turn left into the street going to Berlin Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The hospital and its parking lots are at the end of the road. After parking, go to the hospital main entrance and when inside go to the left. The conference / education room they have for us is between the administrative office and the cafeteria. HOW MANY OF US ARE THERE? According to most sources, there are about one million of us _ plus or minus + million _ in the United States. Low estimates go as low as 400,000 and high estimates go over 2 million. Lobbying for the Morris K. Udall bill might be easier if we knew how many of us there are. Parkinson's is not a reportable disease, that is a diagnosing doctor is not required to make any report to a central authority as is the case with certain infectious diseases such as typhus, smallpox, polio, or some _social diseases._ Most Parkinson's disease never requires hospitalization for treatment for itself. I am not aware of any recent studies on the prevalence of PD in the U.S. A few attempts have been made to extrapolate a Minnesota study near Mayo Clinic, a study in east Baltimore, and a study in a rural Mississippi county into national PD prevalence, but the results are _suspect_ at best. Since Sinemet is almost the universally prescribed primary PD medication, I thought it would be relatively easy to estimate with greater accuracy than a million or maybe half that many or maybe half again that many. DuPont Pharma has refused to release unit sales of Sinemet. Mr. J. Irr, the Sinemet product manager for DuPont, has promised to send _something I might find interesting,_ but it has not arrived yet. With the variation in amount of Sinemet from patient to patient, there would be problems, but an estimate better than _a million give or take a half million_ should emerge. The June 1995 issue of Life Extension Magazine reports that 130,000 PD patients have taken Eldepryl since 1989. The source of the number was not given, but the numbers must be available somewhere... Any advice would be appreciated. NO SCHEDULED MEETINGS FOR JULY & AUGUST With summer vacations, visits to and from friends and families, and just plain hot weather, there are no scheduled support group meetings for July or August. We will probably lose our last Tuesday of the month at 1:00 meeting place at the Salisbury Mall. Look for a change in October. SEPTEMBER 19 DINNER WITH MORT KONDRACKE Current plans call for our September meeting to be a Tuesday dinner at Salisbury State University with syndicated columnist Morton Kondracke as our speaker. Mr. Kondracke appears on the editorial page of the Daily Times most Saturdays and on The McLaughlin Group on Washington channel 4 and Maryland Public Television. Mr. and Mrs. Kondracke are strong proponents of our working together to find the cause and cure for Parkinson's disease. Details of the dinner are not worked out. This is to be a fund raiser for us and probably for the Parkinson's Action Network. We will be looking for sponsors. Details will follow. Will Johnston At the suggestion of the new APDA Director of Chapter Operations: The information and reference material contained herein concerning research being done in the field of Parkinson's disease and answers to readers' questions are solely for the information of the reader. It should not be used for treatment purposes, but rather for discussion with the patient's own physician. According to a senior citizen on his 100th birthday, _I attribute my longevity on this earth to being a non-smoker. I quit last year._ Have a good summer! NOTE: The May issue was mailed via snail mail only and only to the Delaware-Maryland-Virginia area.