Like most of the country this week, we are experiencing bone chilling cold here in East Tennessee. The highs have been under 30 degrees and the lows in the single digits. Not as cold as our neighbors to the north but darn cold after returning home from sunny, warm San Diego. To add insult to injury (so to speak) our heater decided to stop working yesterday evening so we woke up to a toasty 52 in the house this morning. Luckily I was able to contact our heat and air repair shop before they closed last night and someone was here by 8:15 this morning and we are back up and warming.

I hope everyone had a enjoyable holiday season, we certainly enjoyed our visit in Seattle which included watching our granddaughter perform in the Nutcracker Ballet, a early Christmas and watching Seahawk and Bronco football. Christmas in San Diego was nice and warm and included good company, good food and drink and trips to the beach most evenings to watch the sunset and the gray whales making their way south.

It is a new year and a lot of exciting things are happening in Parkinson’s research and treatment. Here are a few examples

The FDA just approved Rytary, a slow release levodopa medication that reduces ‘off’ time and dyskinesa.
The personal DNA company 23andMe and Genentech have entered into an agreement for Genentech to completely sequence the genome of 3000 people with Parkinson’s with a goal to identify new therapeutic targets for treating Parkinson’s disease. Currently they have only analyzed about 750,000 genetic data points in any given individuals genome (I was genotyped, not fully sequenced). This new, whole genome sequencing, will allow them to review 3 billion genetic data points within the genome of each participant.
NeuroDerm Ltd’s new way to deliver levodopa through a belt worn pump is showing promise as it maintains a consistent dose of levodopa reducing motor complications.
The Parkinson’s Disease Foundation has paired with Nature Publishing Group to publish npj Parkinson’s Disease, a new open access, online-only,research journal is dedicated to highlighting the most important scientific advances in Parkinson’s disease research.
The Davis Phinney Foundation has released an Ebook version of Every Victory Counts, a manual that gives people living with Parkinson’s – and their caregivers and family members – the tools they need to take control of their own
Parkinson’s treatment through a proactive approach to self-care. The book is available free of charge in Ebook or print form here on the Foundation website.
And a recent white paper issued by One Research found that patient empowerment is crucial to clinical trial recruitment. The report – which draws on insights from a wide range of stakeholders including the clinical research sector, pharma, CROs, and patient advocacy groups – says the industry must improve its communication to
patients, not only to raise awareness of the available opportunities to get involved in clinical research, but also to reassure them of the vital importance of their role. Also, the approach must be truly patient-centric, “ensuring that the priority of research professionals is to work in the interests of the patients”. Sound familiar? You can read more and download a copy of the study here.

I could go on, but these examples give me hope that 2015 will be the year of the cure! If you haven’t signed up for Fox Trial Finder, you can do so here. Please join me and 40,000+ other PwP’s supporting the search for a cure. By the way, if you haven’t signed up for this year’s Mary-Thon exercise program, you still have time to get in corral one which started this week. Read all about and sign up here.

Happy New Year!

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

Happy Holidays!

Wow, here it is almost Christmas, this year has just sailed by. We are in Seattle to visit family, see our granddaughter dance in The Nutcracker and have an early Christmas before we go on to San Diego to visit more family and celebrate more Christmas! I just wanted to take a moment and wish everyone a Happy Holiday Season. This is a magical time of year and I hope you all enjoy time with family and friends. Thank you all for your support and positive thoughts as I continue my journey with Parkinson’s Disease.

PS: Don’t forget, sign up for the Fox Trial Finder here! Lets make 2015 the year of the CURE!

PPS: It’s also time to sign up for the 2015 Mary-thon, an event that provides you with a reason to exercise at least 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week for 26 weeks. I wrote about the Mary-Thon last year in this post . No running is required, any form of exercise qualifies and a portion of your entry fee goes to Project Linus, a non-profit organization with chapters around the country that provide blankets to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or in needy situations. Click on this link for more information about Project Linus and this link to sign up for the 2015 Mary-Thon which starts January 4th.

Thanks again and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Volunteer and Help Find a Cure for PD!

As promised in the last post, today I will discuss our experiences with clinical trials and the Fox Trial Finder (FTF) web application. But first, are you on Fox Trial Finder? If not, click on this link and sign up today! Currently there are 475 trials listed on FTF taking place in locations around the world. They include interventional trials (reducing tremor or dyskinesia, Tai Chi for balance, tele-medicine, etc.) and observational trials (bio markers, brain mapping, genetic research, wearable devices to measure PD, etc.). When you sign up for FTF you create a profile with information such as length of time with PD, medications, symptoms, and how far you are willing to travel to participate. FTF then matches you to trials that fit your profile. And don’t forget, most trials need control volunteers too so sign up your family and friends! Ready to sign up? Click on this link now! I’ll be here when you come back.

Welcome back! Mara and I recently participated in an observational study titled LRRK2 and Other Novel Exosome Proteins in Parkinson’s Disease conducted by the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The main purpose of this study is to determine whether there are biomarkers associated with Parkinson’s disease susceptibility and/or progression in exosome-proteomes derived from PD patients that will assist with future LRRK2 inhibitor clinical trials. You can read the full description here on FTF but it’s not exactly written in layman’s terms. (Maybe this could be a simple change to the process?)

After arriving at the UAB Medical Campus we were met by Rachel Clark who is coordinating the research study. She went over the research protocol and we signed the consent forms; she then asked us questions about our general health and medications we take. We both completed the Uniform Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) patient questionnaire and we were each given the Montreal Cognitive assessment. Then we took the Parkinson’s Smell Test which Mara did fine on and, surprise surprise, I didn’t. Out of 40 samples I got 10 correct while Mara got 37. I was able to identify two odors and the rest were just lucky guesses. I was also given the general physical tests for PD (tap your fingers & toes, walk down the hall, etc.) and we both provided blood and urine samples. That was it! One and a half hours and we had provided them with the necessary information and samples and completed our first clinical trial! It wasn’t time consuming, I didn’t have to worry about receiving a placebo or changing my medications, and I was only poked enough to provide 1 ounce of blood.

Many of the trials listed on FTF are observational studies like this one and seven are web based like the other trial I am participating in – Smartphone-PD. All of them provide valuable information in the search for a cure and all need participants. Did you click on that link yet?

Smartphone-PD is a study to see if it is feasible for participants to download, install, and use an Android smartphone application to track data related to Parkinson disease symptoms. (Note: only available for Android phones) They hope to measure daily variability of movement and mobility characteristics of PD patients. The data is collected by completing voice and movement tests using my cell phone. The results of the daily tests are encrypted and uploaded to the study team at the University of Rochester in New York. The application will also monitor my daily activity if I keep my phone in my pocket.

I found this trial here on Fox Trial Finder and signing up is all done online. I reviewed the study plan and the consent form which includes the disclaimer that this study is purely for research purposes, so they will not be able to provide clinical advice for individuals with PD. Therefore, no adjustments to medications or appointments with a neurologist will be made as a part of the study. After electronically signing the consent form, I received an email with a link to the application which I downloaded to my phone and I was ready to go.

For this study I use my phone to complete five tests twice a day for six months. The first time is in the morning prior to taking my medication and then again about an hour later. They realize that you might not be able to complete the tests on that schedule but they are OK with that as all collected data is valuable. So it’s OK to miss a test day due to travel or whatever, they still want the information.So most every morning I open the application on my phone and spend five minutes completing the tests which include a voice test, a balance test, a gait test, a dexterity test and a reaction test. The results are sent off and I take my medications, have breakfast and try to remember to repeat the test an hour or so later. This study is actively recruiting on FTF or the Parkinson’s Voice site. Both PwP’s and controls are needed. You can also contact Denzil Harris, the research coordinator by email or phone him at 585-275-2791 for more information.

See, getting involved in a clinical trial is not as difficult as one might think, even if you live in a small town or aren’t close to a research center . Using Fox Trial Finder to identify trials you might be eligible for takes just a little bit of your time and the rewards are many including that good feeling of being involved in the quest for a cure. As I have said before, while patients and researchers work to change the current process, there are still many trials that need participants. If we don’t participate, we will continue to rely on a drug discovered almost 50 years ago that only treats some of our symptoms. With 475 possible trials listed, I bet you can find one that interests you, so click on this link and join over 39,000 others on Fox Trial Finder today!

(Updated 12/11 to add the links to Fox Trial Finder so it shows up in mobile device view with thanks to the Cure Parkinson’s Trust )

Here it is almost the end of May all ready! We have been busy with two trips to Memphis, one for a concert and one for our oldest granddaughter’s graduation from Rhodes College. So thought I would post a quick update from….THE BEACH! Yep we are at the beach on Bald Head Island for the week.

First the concert, little did we know but there are Internet stars who are famous for videos they post on Vine and YouTube and they draw quite the crowd of young girls when they tour. Somehow we agreed to take granddaughter McKenna and her friend to Memphis to catch the show. This involved a 5.5 hour drive listening to the music from the various performers (actually not too bad, as Mara said, “I could understand the lyrics”), then standing in line for several days (OK maybe two hours) because the girls had VIP tickets that included a meet and greet with the stars 2 hours before the show started. And that is how Mara ended up in this great photo with TEZ, one of the stars. The girls reported the concert was great, we elected to sit on the patio at the venue with several other parents, grand parents or guardians, skipping the screaming and pushing and shoving.

The following week, we returned to Memphis for granddaughter Breanna’s graduation from Rhodes College. It seems like it was just yesterday when we made our first trip to Memphis to take her to a summer soccer camp before her freshman year and now she has graduated Cuma Laud with a degree in Biology and plans to attend medical school.

It was a rainy morning but the graduation ceremony was wonderful and we enjoyed the weekend with the graduate and family and friends. (Yes that is me on the left wearing my Dad’s old straw hat and a bow tie! A Southern gentleman, all the way)

We have been working on ideas to make local information about PD such as a list of local support groups, links to national organizations, links to local programs like Big and Loud, etc. available to PD Patients and Care Partners via the medical community. In talking with PD patients, it is surprising how many of them mention they have had problems getting support group and local resource information even when they ask their doctor.

We want to create something simple, like a business card with a brief explanation and the website address that could be given to PD patients. We plan to try it out with East Tennessee information and expand statewide if it works. This is a collaborative effort with input from PD stakeholders including other PwP, representatives from national organizations and local groups, and the medical community. The site is a work in progress, so if you are a Tennessee reader of my blog or just interested in the idea, you can check it out here.

Another exciting event this month, the Cure Parkinson’s Trust in the UK released their annual report for 2015 and it includes a reprint of a portion of my blog post regarding the Grand Challenge meeting we attended last September. In addition to the reprint, the report contains a wealth of information about the Trust’s programs and the progress that has been made since that meeting and can be viewed here.

And now we are finishing the month with a week at the beach with family, which will give us a chance to up the exercise routine again, catch up on a lot of reading, and maybe I’ll even work on the class I started a month or so ago on how to build website! Which reminds me, I updated the National PD Resource page as part of the new website design, feel free to check it out and while you are waiting for my next post, don’t forget to sign up for Fox Trial Finder and the Fox Insight trial.

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

Year: 2015

The Busy Month of May

Here it is almost the end of May all ready! We have been busy with two trips to Memphis, one for a concert and one for our oldest granddaughter’s graduation from Rhodes College. So thought I would post a quick update from….THE BEACH! Yep we are at the beach on Bald Head Island for the week.

First the concert, little did we know but there are Internet stars who are famous for videos they post on Vine and YouTube and they draw quite the crowd of young girls when they tour. Somehow we agreed to take granddaughter McKenna and her friend to Memphis to catch the show. This involved a 5.5 hour drive listening to the music from the various performers (actually not too bad, as Mara said, “I could understand the lyrics”), then standing in line for several days (OK maybe two hours) because the girls had VIP tickets that included a meet and greet with the stars 2 hours before the show started. And that is how Mara ended up in this great photo with TEZ, one of the stars. The girls reported the concert was great, we elected to sit on the patio at the venue with several other parents, grand parents or guardians, skipping the screaming and pushing and shoving.

The following week, we returned to Memphis for granddaughter Breanna’s graduation from Rhodes College. It seems like it was just yesterday when we made our first trip to Memphis to take her to a summer soccer camp before her freshman year and now she has graduated Cuma Laud with a degree in Biology and plans to attend medical school.

It was a rainy morning but the graduation ceremony was wonderful and we enjoyed the weekend with the graduate and family and friends. (Yes that is me on the left wearing my Dad’s old straw hat and a bow tie! A Southern gentleman, all the way)

We have been working on ideas to make local information about PD such as a list of local support groups, links to national organizations, links to local programs like Big and Loud, etc. available to PD Patients and Care Partners via the medical community. In talking with PD patients, it is surprising how many of them mention they have had problems getting support group and local resource information even when they ask their doctor.

We want to create something simple, like a business card with a brief explanation and the website address that could be given to PD patients. We plan to try it out with East Tennessee information and expand statewide if it works. This is a collaborative effort with input from PD stakeholders including other PwP, representatives from national organizations and local groups, and the medical community. The site is a work in progress, so if you are a Tennessee reader of my blog or just interested in the idea, you can check it out here.

Another exciting event this month, the Cure Parkinson’s Trust in the UK released their annual report for 2015 and it includes a reprint of a portion of my blog post regarding the Grand Challenge meeting we attended last September. In addition to the reprint, the report contains a wealth of information about the Trust’s programs and the progress that has been made since that meeting and can be viewed here.

And now we are finishing the month with a week at the beach with family, which will give us a chance to up the exercise routine again, catch up on a lot of reading, and maybe I’ll even work on the class I started a month or so ago on how to build website! Which reminds me, I updated the National PD Resource page as part of the new website design, feel free to check it out and while you are waiting for my next post, don’t forget to sign up for Fox Trial Finder and the Fox Insight trial.

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

May 25, 2015
It’s Clinical Trial Awareness Week

Yep, May 4th – 8th is Clinical Trial Awareness Week, and you know how I feel about clinical trials! I have to admit, two years ago I would have said “it’s what week” but then I received the ‘Diagnosis’ and now I am an advocate for clinical trial participation and for the need to bring the patient to the table with the researcher so all of our needs are met. Amazing how life changes isn’t it?

Regular readers are aware that almost every post, no matter the topic, includes a push for you to sign up for the Fox Trial Finder. But then what? You say “OK Tom” and you sign up and you get your first list of trials that match your information and you are excited to find the perfect match that will lead to the cure! But…if you are like me, you discover that you don’t qualify for your first choice because you are already taking Sinemet or Mirapex or some other PD drug. Oh and that is the same problem with your second choice too!

Oh look, a soap box….

I have written about this problem before and it was discussed it at the Rally for the Challenge last year in Grand Rapids and we have discussed it with other PwP’s but we haven’t found an answer to this problem. I may be wrong, but I believe that this issue is a major reason PD researchers can’t recruit enough trial participants. Most of the people I have talked to were diagnosed by completing the toe-heel tapping, finger tapping, nose touching etc. tests AND then, to make sure, prescribed a dopamine replacement drug. Presto, no longer eligible for many trials, at least while in the early progression of PD.

I realize that part of the reason for not taking volunteers who are already medicated is the need to make sure it is the tested drug that produces the expected improvement, not the combination of two or more drugs. But, what if the combination produces a better result? Already many of us take two or more drugs to treat all of our symptoms and improve our quality of life. So here’s my idea..

Why not include some already medicated volunteers in the study design? For example, if you need 400 subjects for Phase III, how about 300 who aren’t taking a dopamine replacement drug (if you can find them) and 50 taking Sinement and 50 taking Mirapex? It might require some tweaking of the dosage of the drugs but you have another 100 participants in your trial. Just a thought, we need clinical trials and they need volunteers, so it’s time to stop saying ‘That’s the way we have always done it” and time to be innovative and try something new.

…..OK, off the soapbox.

Here is the good news, there are over 400 trials on Fox Trial Finder and many don’t require you to be drug free and many that are looking for volunteers without Parkinson’s as control participants so you can get the friends and family involved too. And several that are web based including Fox Insight so you can participate without leaving your house!

As a participant in 6 trials so far, I can tell you that you can’t beat the good feeling you get from doing your part to advance Parkinson’s research and maybe find the cure. Join me and sign up for Fox Trial Finder and Fox Insight today! Thanks.
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

May 5, 2015
Walking for Parkinson’s Research

Yesterday was our local Parkinson’s Walk held in Oak Ridge,TN. The weather websites were predicting rain and thunderstorms, but it turned out to just be a cloudy day. Our local walk is in support of the Unity Walk in New York City and 100% of the funds raised go to the seven major Parkinson’s research organizations.Despite the weather forecast we had a good turnout and raised over $8100 for PD research. I want to again thank all of you who made a donation in support of Mara and me and Team PK Hope is Alive – THANKS!
We arrived early to help with the setup for the walk and I was glad my stepson, Darrin, joined us for the heavy lifting! This was also our first ‘gig’ as Fox Trial Finder Ambassadors and we set up a table to promote Fox Trial Finder and Fox InSight. We had a lot of activity at our table, handed out a lot of information and MJFF orange brain shaped stress relievers. We met a lot of new people who were interested in both programs and hopefully our efforts result in some new sign ups.

We were asked to speak during the prerace ceremonies so, in addition to our first Trial Finder gig, I made my first presentation about current research and the need for participating in Fox Trial Finder and Fox InSight. I had prepared some notes (about 7 pages when printed in large type!) but found it hard to read the notes, maintain some eye contact, speak loudly AND hold the microphone at the same time so it was more of an ‘off the cuff’ speech it but it seemed to go OK for a first attempt.

This week I moved the blog to its own internet domain www.tomspdblog.com which is easier for me (and you) to remember when people ask for the address. Google assures me there should be no noticeable change for readers as both the old and the new address will end up at the blog. So far it seems to be working OK, but those of you who have the address bookmarked may want to update your bookmark to the new address.

Next Thursday we go to Vanderbilt for my next appointment with my Movement Disorder Specialist. I continue to be so much better on the new medication and I hope Dr. Davis agrees. I am also hoping to be considered for the NPF Parkinson’s Outcomes Project which is conducted at the NPF Center’s of Excellence of which Vanderbilt is one. They have been following PwP since 2009 with a goal of establishing models of excellent PD care for best health outcomes. You can read more on the NPF website at this link .

I’m still working at reviewing some of the exercise options available for PwP, maybe it will be done by the next post (I’m pretty sure procrastination is another non motor symptom!) In the meantime, don’t forget to sign up for Fox Trial Finder and Fox Insight and be an agent for change!

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

April 26, 2015

Brrrr, It’s Cold!

Happy Holidays!

Volunteer and Help Find a Cure for PD!

Where in the world is Tom

It’s Parkinson’s Awareness Month – 9th Edition

We Survived Hurricane Ian!

Nine Years

Other Posts

Where in the world is Tom

It’s Parkinson’s Awareness Month – 9th Edition

We Survived Hurricane Ian!

Nine Years

Year: 2015

The Busy Month of May

It’s Clinical Trial Awareness Week

Walking for Parkinson’s Research