Hot off the press is an article and editorial looking at the protective effect of exercise on Parkinson’s Disease. Dr Fudi Wang and his team combined the data from six studies from the United States, one from Finland and one from Sweden. The health of 544,336 (mainly men) were followed for an average of twelve years. Of these, 2,192 developed PD. Continue reading “Exercise and Parkinson’s Disease”
Category: Red and Near-Infrared Light
Cossack – making the frame
The item you need is plastic-coated wire mesh. It is available at most hardware stores and garden centres. Here is the brand that Michael used to develop his Cossack design.
Meet Cossack
This is a photo of a very cleverly designed light hat, called Cossack. Created and named by Michael, one of the founders of Light Ahead Inc, Michael has given permission for the blog to publish instructions.
Cossack is a brilliant design as it solves the ventilation problem that is inherent in the use of plastic buckets. The frame is made from aluminium coated garden mesh available from hardware and gardening stores.
More details are coming…
Hot off the press…
Transcranial red light can improve Parkinson’s disease symptoms. This article calls for increased recognition of the huge potential of Photobiomodulation as a safe, home-based therapy in neurodegenerative diseases.
The article Exploring the use of transcranial photobiomodulation in Parkinson’s disease patients has just been published in the journal Neural Regeneration Research.
It is based on the work of Dr Frank Nicklason, Dr Catherine Hamilton, Prof John Mitrofanis, Nabil el Massri and David Hamilton.
This article provides a strong argument for faster action in clinical trials. The improvements being experienced and documented by daily light hat users provide convincing and exciting evidence that red lights on the brain do something good. Continue reading “Hot off the press…”
“To sleep, perchance to dream”
Trans-cranial red light can improve REM or dream sleep disruption in people with Parkinson’s Disease.
For spouses of people with Parkinson’s, the above quote can be a threat.
We have a protective mechanism that stops the body moving during dream or REM sleep. So while you are dreaming about running away from an enraged grizzly bear, your body is still.
One of the many awful things about Parkinson’s is that can disrupt this protective mechanism during dream sleep. This means that when the grizzly bear is chasing, your body is no longer still. You are running as fast as you can while lying in bed.
If your spouse is lying next to you, it is like war has broken out. Your frantic running from the grizzly bear results in an eruption of kicking and thrashing. You are fast asleep but your spouse has had a rude awakening.
Daily light hat use can stop warfare during dream sleep.
There has been a steady increase in the number of spouses reporting that the outbreaks of war have stopped following daily use of red light. As well, the person with Parkinson’s feels that sleep is of a better quality.
Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS)
One of the reports came from a chap who had the DBS procedure. He was initially apprehensive about using an Eliza because of his DBS, but there is no good scientific reason to suspect that there would be any adverse reaction.
His dream sleep has resumed being peaceful, and he is much happier with improved sleep. And so is his wife.
Prof John Mitrofanis presentation
Prof John’s presentation at the recent Melbourne conference covered two areas:
- the development of the research into red &near infrared light and Parkinson’s disease; and
- the results of recent case-studies of four Tasmanians using Eliza light hats.
I’m not able to post the exact presentation he gave a few weeks ago, but I am able to give you detailed notes that I took on 6 December 2016, when Prof John spoke to the group of people involved in the Eliza activities in Tasmania. These notes cover point (1) above.
The information Prof John covered in point (2) has been accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal, and when that article appears, I’ll be able to post it on the blog. That might not be for a few months, so keep watch on the blog. Continue reading “Prof John Mitrofanis presentation”
Diagnosing Parkinson’s
This is a wonderfully written description of the difficulties that Parkinson’s disease can present. It can be debilitating, sneaky, and extremely hard to diagnose with certainty.
This story, from The Sydney Morning Herald/The Age describes the confusing symptoms of the early years, the procession of varying medical opinions and, too familiar to many, the sheer misery PD can inflict.
