Print

Print


Sue, one of the best things to do is to get massage regularly.  I am a
caregiver (CG) for a person with parkinsons (PWP) and a professional massage
therapist for twenty years.  Massage imitates the shortening and broadening
of muscles that is usually most efficiently done through muscle contraction
and relaxation (exercise/stretching).  It also loosens tight muscles,
allowing greater flow of fluids (blood and lymph) through those areas.  Blood
brings nutrients and evacuates waste products.  Lymph fluid carries
constituents of the immune system and evacuates other waste products.
 Muscles which are "loose" tend not to entrap nerves.  While massage cannot
go into the brain and "muck about" with the substantia nigra, it can make the
muscles more able to respond to those nerve signals that do manage to get
from the brain to the muscles.
You go, girl, and fight this PD.  Also accept it, be creative with it, and
reap the blessings of being on this list with some truly wonderful PWP.

Deanne Charlton
[log in to unmask]