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Dear Janet, Since leaving the PARKINSN list I have had more time to read some old postings. I came across yours and read it with interest. It touches on several issues of interest to me, especially the rate of progression of PD. I know it is variable but your statement: "also the fact that time to disability may vary as much as 40 years..." is fascinating. Do you have more on that? Concerning your hunch about oxygen and PD...you may be able to track down some supportive material if you find people who have PD and who have also developed COPD and who are on continuous O2. Secondly, you might want to talk with PWP's who have had heart attacks and find out their experiences with their PD while they were on O2 with respect to their symptoms (provided they were still receiving the same amount of parkinsonian agents as they usually received in the community) You may also want to talk with Hershel Toomin ([log in to unmask]) concerning your hypoperfusion hypothesis. Hershel has been developing an interesting gizmo (description at end of this post) which measures areas of oxygen hypoperfusion in the brain and correlating that with a person's EEG. He has found interesting and I think significant clinical implications with this non- invasive technique. I asked him a question a few months ago about how that might be of value for people with PD and he said that while he had not actually explored that area, he thought there would be merit. Janet, since I am basically just sending in material to the list just from time to time, I would appreciate it if you would let me know if this generates any interesting discussion. Good luck, Tim Hodgens -- Tim Hodgens, Ph.D. Psychologist Westborough, MA --- CEREBRAL CIRCULATION FEEDBACK WITH INFRARED LIGHT SCALP TRANSDUCER * Hershel Toomim, Antoine Remond, Marjorie Toomim, Robert Marsh, and Robert Lerk ABSTRACT Near infrared spectrophotometry is a non-invasive technique useful in Hemoencephalography (HEG) for measuring and training neurofeedback aided control of hemoglobin saturation in the brain. The method relates optical signals detected at the surface of the head to the ratio of oxygenated capillary blood to total capillary blood in a small volume of cortical tissue. Red and near infrared light sources shine through the translucent skull at appropriately chosen wavelengths. The method relies on light reflection and scattering by red blood cells. Returned light, altered in color by brain tissues, is measured at the skin surface. The ratio of the collected transcranial non-invasive optical signals from a dual wavelength near-infrared spectrophotometer is used to control a computer-generated display to which a subject can respond and learn to control the color of cortical tissues. Results show the spectrophotometric measurements are readily controllable by subject's intent and are consonant with EEG measures. Clinical results are rapid and positive in those brain injuries and dysfunctions encountered to date. In one case the HEG spectrophotometric treatment has been validated with a pre and post treatment SPECT finding.