Travelling the Parkinson's track.

[Kimby]

I wonder if essential tremor is what forced Trump to hold his glass with both hands like a child just learning to direct fluids into his mouth...

[bjd]

Back in the late 1960s, my grandmother developed shaking hands. Her doctor diagnosed Parkinson's but in fact, the tremors never got worse, she never developed any other typical Parkinson's symptoms. She was given L-Dopa but probably it didn't make a difference since it doesn't prevent the disease from evolving. Then one day my mother took her to a different doctor -- a Hungarian woman who had worked in Europe for years before going to Canada.

She said she had seen other cases like that -- it was neurological damage caused in people who had had Spanish flu after WW1. This was my grandmother's case. She had been ill in 1920 or so, but it took many years for the effects to develop.

[onlyMark]

I suffer from essential tremor. Left hand more than the right. Sometimes none at all, sometimes when stressful I couldn't, say, hold a fork properly without the food falling off.

[mickthecactus]

Sometimes I have a shaky brain. Couldn’t remember what asparagus was called this evening.....

[questa]

We all get shaky hands as we become less juvenile (I'm waging war on "age" ) There are many neural disorders that first show as tremor...it is thanks to Michael J Fox who has put Parkies on the map so that GPs will look for it early. It is good that your loved one was caught early so that the progression can be slowed down.
How to talk to him...just as you would anyone else. There will be bad jokes from his co-workers as they support him to the hilt and keeping up with family in UK will be a help.
Getting tired and slower in movement are the main problems at the start-up. Early onset does not have the complications of getting old mixed up with the basic disease.

The UK end of the family will have to adjust more so than your relative. He will have a band of 'siblings' to rubbish him when needed and care for him on bad days. Feel free to give him my phone number if he wants to contact me. I feel like I know him anyway...

[tod2]

It has been very interesting reading all about the symptoms and causes of trembling hands. My mom had this in her 50's and only noticeable when bringing a cup of tea up to her mouth. I did ask her once when the cup was rattling on the saucer why she was shaking - her answer was it was a condition called Tremor. And that was that until she turned 90. She started sliding her feet when walking - our doctor said to me "Your mother has started Parkinsons". She never got worse than slow walking until her death at 93. So when my right hand shakes a bit - I don't let it worry me.

[whatagain]

May 23, 2021 17:02:48 GMT kerouac2 said:

Looks like your hands were trembling on your telephone. (*runs away quickly*)

The hands or the brains...
Have pity on me, i type on my smartphone.

[questa]

One way to tell the difference is with Parkies the hands will shake when they are not doing anything, but give them a task...carrying a cup of tea or threading a needle, the tremor will pause awhile. Essential tremor has the hands still at rest but lifting a cup brings on the shakes, therefore the observance of Trump using both hands to drink would make him more like Essential Tremor which could be any of many causes.

Tod, thanks for bringing out an often found statistic. Most patients do not actually die from Parkinsons. Through the course of the disease infections, specially lungs and urinary tract are the causes of some deaths. As the muscles in the trachea lose tone there is a risk of choking. As with many people there is the complication of fractures and needing surgery. Statistics say the life span is reduced but better management now has nearly closed the gap.

[tod2]

Questa = My mom is no longer here to answer a question: Her youngest sister ( a very qualified Chief Nurse if you can call her that- Matron?) Died of a disease where you cannot swallow and fed herself through a tube in the stomach region. What is that?

[questa]

Tod, sorry about your mother.
There are many conditions where gastric feeding is used. It is not a disease but a method of delivering nourishment to someone who can't swallow.
I think of cancers, damaged throat from smoke/chemicals/burns/lacerations etc, neurological disorders like multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, parkinsons etc. Psych disorders like anorexia and bulimia. Some may be short term to build up nourishment and some need it permanently.
In Asian countries a common way to try to commit suicide is swallowing dangerous household chemicals. Not only is it painful and not often successful, but it damages the mouth and throat so that tube feeding is necessary for life.
There are lots more but this is off the top of my head...

'Matron' is now called the 'Director of Nursing' in most places. It lacks the 'shiver down the spine' effect when she calls you to her office, doncha think?

[cheerypeabrain]

Thanks for your advice and comments everybody, especially Questa. Very comforting x He's married to my niece and has siblings and his Dad in Australia 'nearby'.

My niece and nephew-in-law have just had a house built..a lovely sprawling bungalow (in a fairly rural place outside Melbourne) and have just moved in...they're planning to have the landscaping done by a Chelsea Show gold medalist (the chap who won with a billabong!)...we wondered why they were so subdued recently, we had been getting updates throughout the house build but I guess thd move coincided with his diagnosis.

I'll carry on as normal then....thanks for your kind offer Questa. I think that he is getting lots of support both at home and at work...xxx

[questa]

Hi Cheery
I wondered how the house was going...it was just a block of land in a possible bushfire path when I last heard. Wish them good luck from me
(don't forget to tell the landscaper that the house would appreciate fire-retardant plantings)

[Kimby]

(Anything that is fire-resistant is probably very tasty for deer.)

[questa]

Just as well we do not have deer here ... except a few farmed for venison.
The cutesy bunnies do enough damage and now the 'meece' are taking over.