HeroTeo - The Parkinson’s Fighter

Speech difficulty is very common among Parkinson’s patients (about 80%). Unfortunately, it is also one of the most neglected areas in the management of PD. Medications are helpful. In fact, when one’s voice becomes softer and less clear, it is a sign of progression of illness. In this case, adding new medications and / or increasing the dose of existing medications is helpful. Yes, speech therapy is also useful but there are probably less than twenty qualified speech therapist in Malaysia. …

Tags: Discussion, Exercise, General, Medication by heroteo
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I was diagnosed as PD in the year of Sept 2005 and taking Sinemet 25/100 one tablet at morning, afternoon and evening and one Jumet 5 mg at morning and afternoon only. I did very well in my gym classes at gym centre 2 -3 hours per day from Mon to Friday as I did not feel tired and exhausted. I took part body pump, combat, cardio, spinning, Yoga and Pilate when there were available in the gym. After 2 years in the gym exercises i.e 2005 to 2006 I started tired and exh

Tags: Discussion, Exercise, General by heroteo
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I wish to relate my encounter with PD disease symptoms for the past of 10 years. I understand we have so far 4 movement disorder specialists in Singapore i..e 2 in Tan Tuck Seng Hospital, 1 in General Hospital and other goes Private practice. We have only one in Malaysia. Therefore all the specialists are fully booked and have to make appointment with them for two to three weeks. All the neurologist s are not specialised in movement disorders and my PD yet to be detected. I was told that

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Dehydration is unfortunately all too common among those with PD, especially older adults. Dehydration can have drastic consequences, ranging from urinary tract infections to confusion, dizziness, and falls. Although hot weather increases the need for water, the risk for dehydration is always a concern. The following information is important, and I hope you will all …

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Mr. Teo Kim Hoe was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in September 2005. At a time when most people would sit back and enjoy their retirement lives, Mr. Teo was suddenly faced with a life altering disease. But such is life. When the worst of the storm hits and hurls your ship towards a pile of rocks, you either give up and jump ship or you summon your courage, do your best to steer the ship away from danger and say, “Is this the worst you can do?” In coping with this degenerative disease, Mr. Teo is the epitome of Captain Courageous, hence the appropriate nickname he adopted in his blog – “Hero Teo”.

Although his blog ‘movementdisorder.blogspot.com’ is not exactly Michael J. Fox’s Foundation for Parkinson’s disease, it records the extraordinary efforts that Mr. Teo has taken to combat this disease and his desire to share his knowledge with the world in the hope of reaching out to fellow Parkinson disease patients with the intention of helping them to the best that he can.

While many would stopped after knowing what is the best or latest medicine available for Parkinson’s disease and finding out the best procedure out there, Mr. Teo will not sit on his laurels until he finds out for himself the truthfulness of the representations concerning those medications and procedures. This often involves using himself as the test subject and facing the consequences of undesired side-effects, all these just to prove the effectiveness of the medication. He would then share all these experiences in his blog for the benefit of others. Captain Courageous? I have no doubt that he is.

If all his work and research would benefit and improve the life of even just one person, then Mr. Teo has achieved more than what many of us could do in a lifetime.

Tags: Discussion, Exercise, General, Nutrients, Symptoms by heroteo
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Dear Doctor,

I  read an article as follows:

I became curious as to effects of estrogen on males; both sexes seem to have varying amounts of estrogen and androgen–women have more estrogen, males have more androgen, but each has SOME of the other’s primary sex hormone.

On what role estrogen may play in males’ development of PD?

Can estrogen make worse in Parkinson’s?

Kindly enlighten the subject and is helpful for Parkinson’s

Thanks

TeoKimHoe

Dr. OkunJoined: 19 Jan 2007Posts: 251Location: University of Florida
Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 2:12 pm Post subject:

It is unknown what effect estrogen has on the development of PD and especially unknown in males. Testosterone is converted in the body to estrogen so that is a factor that must be considered. Finally there are studies in women suggesting estrogen could be protective or have a symptomatic benefit in PD. Much needs to be researched on this topic._________________Michael S. Okun, M.D.

Posted by Hero Teo at 6:26 PM

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Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 8:32 am Post subject: Is PD a’ no hope’ illness?

Despite vast improvement in PD treatment there are many reasons that some patients are still plain ignorance.
They consider PD to be “no hope” illness and whither away slowly. they lack of fighting spirit (born fighter) as they cannot accept the fact they cannot live a normal life as other healthy people. They feel embarrassed and isolate themselves from the community as some people in the society regards PD as being” crippled”. TEOKIMHOE

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Dr. Okun

Joined: 19 Jan 2007
Posts: 251
Location: University of Florida
Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 10:11 am Post subject:
Thanks for the comment.
_________________
Michael S. Okun, M.D.
Anonymous

Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 5:28 pm Post subject:
I had a bad reaction to artane which handicapped me greatly last October, though I’ve recovered for the most now. Before the reaction I had mild shaking that you probably wouldn’t notice unless standing behind me in a line, but I was very self-conscious about it. After the reaction it took me many months to be able to go outside and I needed a walker and barely had use of my left hand. However, I was no longer as self-conscious - not that I don’t get anxious in public - but I was happy to be able to get around and proud of the fact that I wasn’t letting it hold me back. I used public transit etc while shaking quite a bit.

Funny how things change….

Jim

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Dr. Fernandez

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 5:10 pm Post subject:
Not at all, Jim! I don’t think PD is a “no hope” illness. And I am not saying this because I carry the obligation of keeping all of your optimistic, but because I trully believe so.
There are however, some less lucky people. You happen to be one of them. The good news is that if your set back is due to medication side effect, or due to less optimal use of medications available, this is usually correctible ones it is recognized.

Artane is a hit or miss…it is a good drug for tremor, but not for the other features of PD. The reason why I don’t like it too much is because it can cause mental dullness, confusion, memory loss, blurred vision, constipations, urinary problems, etc. And, there are other better tolerated drugs that can help tremor also.

Good luck!
_________________
Hubert H. Fernandez
Anonymous

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 12:40 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the response Dr. Fernandez, but I was saying that I don’t believe PD is “hopeless”, but that attitude makes the crucial difference. Before I had the bad reaction I was self-conscious about my minimal Parkinson’s symptoms, however, after the artane reaction I became much less self-conscious. As you know, how one reacts to PD (or anything for that matter) is of vital importance.

Jim

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Dr. Fernandez
Joined: 20 Jan 2007
Posts: 90

Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 10:35 pm Post subject:

I agree!

The good news is that there are lots of other drugs and we discover more and more strategies every day….so don’t lose hope!

Yours,
_________________
Hubert H. Fernandez

Anonymous
Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 12:40 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the response Dr. Fernandez, but I was saying that I don’t believe PD is “hopeless”, but that attitude makes the crucial difference. Before I had the bad reaction I was self-conscious about my minimal Parkinson’s symptoms, however, after the artane reaction I became much less self-conscious. As you know, how one reacts to PD (or anything for that matter) is of vital importance.

Jim

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Dr. Fernandez
Joined: 20 Jan 2007
Posts: 90

Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 10:35 pm Post subject:
I agree!
The good news is that there are lots of other drugs and we discover more and more strategies every day….so don’t lose hope!

Yours,
_________________
Hubert H. Fernandez

Tags: Discussion, Exercise, General, Medication, Symptoms by heroteo
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Mr Teo’s blog creates a huge impact on the world Parkinson’s community because it contains the personal accounts of a great man who suffers from Parkinson’s himself. Mr Teo is so frank to reveal and discuss his own personal and medical problems with the whole world.
 
Let me tell you this true story. Once, I made some honest but frank comments on a Parkinson’s patient’s lifestyle and medications. I told him that he should increase the dose of his daily medications as I thought that his treatment was too conservative (i.e. he was under-medicated). And I told him that he should also work harder in carrying out daily exercise programs such as morning walk and cycling at home. Finally, I told him that he was a bit too dependent on his wife in his daily activities. All I wanted was to encourage him to live a more physically active life.
 
This patient replied, ”doctor, it is easy for you to say all these. I am the one who suffers from Parkinson’s, and not you.”
 
I was taken aback by this statement. Initially, I was a bit annoyed by this “rude” reply. But looking back, I don’t think it was rude because there was a lot of truth in it.
 
It is easy for healthy people (including doctors) to make comments on Parkinson’s patients. It is easy to say, “do this and do that”. Sometimes, we tend to under-estimate or overlook the sufferings of Parkinson’s patients because we (healthy people) don’t feel what they feel.   
 
The learning point from this story is that the best people to understand Parkinson’s patients are the Parkinson’s patients themselves. Therefore, it is important that Parkinson’s patients share information and experiences with each other. One good way to achieve this is a Parkinson’s blog, as the one which Mr. Teo has started. 
 
I really hope that more and more Parkinson’s patients will come up with their own blogs, and follow the footsteps of Hero Teo.
 
Dr Chew Nee Kong
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  

 Dear Dr.Chew,

 In response of your article Tsunami. .
It is the attitude of the Parkinson’s makes the crucial differences.

They are self-conscious about Parkinson’s symptoms.
How one reacts to PD (or anything for that matter) is of vital importance.

 At least 40% of patients are depressed because they have a very negative self image. They feel inferior to people who don’t have the disease.” 

Teo         

Tags: Discussion, Exercise, General, Medication, Symptoms by heroteo
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Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 6:32 pm Post subject: Is Parkinson’s life threatening or altering?

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Dear Doctor,

Parkinson’s is a neurological disorder that affecting people all over the world.

It is a slow progressive disorder that is life altering, but is not life threatening. It affected your activities daily life either emotional or non emotional. The Parkinson’s have the same disease but movement disorders differently. It makes doctor diagnosis them difficulty though some early parkinson’s do not need medication.

It takes patients to life altering to slowdown the parkinson’s progression but not life threatening. It is a not “going away disease” as it is your lifepartner. Patients do not die on Parkinson’s but on other diseases which is not related with Parkinson’s. There are changes on their memory, personality, behaviour and feelings.

“At least 40% of patients are depressed because they have a very negative self image. They feel inferior to people who don’t have the disease.”

With the advent of medications and surgery field doctors now have better control the disease than before. Therefore Parkinson’s is not a life threatening but life altering. It gives parkinson’s a better quality life.

TeoKimHoe

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Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 5:56 am Post subject: Are vitamin supplements harmful for Parkinson’s Patient?

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Dear Dr. Kathrynne Holden

Nutrition are importance for those with Parkinson Disease. Nutrition won’t cure PD or slow its progression.

Why there are vitamins and mineral not suitable for Parkinson’s Patients and are harmful for them to take?

There are Folic Acid, Chromium,Copper, Ferritin,Magnessium,Selerium, and Zinc

What are the normal level of these vitamins level (units)in our body?

In what level are considered harmful for Parkinson’s patients and how to reduce to safe level?

How to monitor the vitamins and mineral level, periodly or yearly?

Best regards

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Kathrynne Holden, MS, RD

Joined: 22 Jan 2007
Posts: 94
Location: www.nutritionucanlivewith.com
Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 7:28 am Post subject:

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Dear Friend,
People with PD have the same need for vitamins, minerals, and macronutrients as everyone else. Just as the rest of the population, they need annual physical examinations, including blood and urine tests, to determine whether any deficiencies exist.

Regarding normal levels, your doctor is the best source of information, and I recommend you discuss this with him or her.
_________________
Best regards,
Kathrynne Holden, MS, RD
–
For a Parkinson Tip of the Day visit:
http://www.nutritionucanlivewith.com

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