Parkinson's Disease & Personality

Since the moment Mom told me about Dad's PD and secretly blamed him for "doing it all to himself", I started seeking information on how one's personality may be related to the chance of developing PD. And yes, it turns out there is a correlation. According to this article, personality traits associated with PD, are:

- introversion
- inflexibility
- low novelty seeking

Traits pointed out here, are:

- ambitious
- industrious
- serious
- single-minded
- rigid
- introverted
- slow-tempered
- harm-avoidant

Needless to say, Dad is most of the above things.

The technical reason PD develops is because of low production of dopamine in the brain. This other article doesn't talk directly about PD but says a thing or two about dopamine and introversion. It turns out that introverts "have a low tolerance to dopamine, the thrill-seeking neurotransmitter. Essentially, introverts need way less of this than do extroverts, and too much dopamine makes them anxious and eventually drained. For introverts, outside stimulation which increases dopamine levels is much like being tickled: not so bad at first, but it can escalate and become very stressful and uncomfortable. Introverts prefer the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which produces a feeling of calm and wellbeing. This neurotransmitter is raised during calm, reflective activities like reading or drawing."

Unfortunately, I'm not a medical doctor, and I can only draw conclusions based on my common sense, but it sounds like introverts really are sort of "doing it to themselves" by staying in their shell, not getting out there and not seeking new and exciting people and experiences, even if they make them uncomfortable. That did sound like blaming though. I'm more of an introvert myself. Am I at higher risk of getting PD? I was big on novelty-seeking in my late teens (more than my parents could tolerate or were happy with) and maybe the first year or two of college but since then I've become more and more harm-avoidant, single-minded and rigid. I notice my inflexibility with other people, the spontaneity I used to thrive on and now makes me more anxious than excited. I don't consider myself ambitious and industrious but I do beat myself up every so often for not achieving this goal and that goal, so I guess I am ambitious in a way. I feel like it's not too late to fight these tendencies, and I am certainly glad I am able to recognize them. But what am I going to do about them? Do I have the strength to do what it takes? Very often I find myself wanting to be as relaxed, carefree and adventure-seeking as my good old sixteen year old self and I want that girl to come back from where she's hiding and show me how to live.

Parkinson's Disease and Exercise

Dad was recently diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease - something that, if I think about in hindsight - has been there for almost 5 years. I compared pictures from the summer of 2004 and the spring of 2005, and I can see the difference. He's a healthy middle aged man with a tall standing posture and head held high in 2004. In 2005 there are the first signs of a hunch, holding his hands a little awkwardly in front of his abdomen, and his facial expression a little more goggley than the year before. The transition between being healthy and being sick must've happened that winter - 2004/2005 but nobody noticed, labeling his signs and behavior generally as "getting older". Today, in the winter of 2009, my Dad is an old man at the age of 60. I've been reading a lot of articles about PD and this one strikes me as one that everyone can benefit from. It explains how the regular practicing of sports slows down the process of the disease and can even prevent it before the disease picks up speed. It is yet another proof how important movement and regular exercise is. Of course my dad hasn't exercised much (if at all) throughout his life so I embraced this research thinking "This is it! This is it!" Of course this is not the only "it"; there are many other factors, about which I'll write some other time, but regardless, now when someone tells me "I haven't exercised in 40 years and I feel the same" I'd tell them to take a good and honest look at themselves, and then decide whether the above statement is a sincere reason to brag.