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American Parkinson Disease Association had physicians helping them throughout the day at the Unity Walk. They were answering patients’ questions. My Parkinson’s Info decided to ask them some key questions that would provide insight to our readers. Two doctors were kind enough to help us.
My Parkinson’s Info: What kinds of questions do you want patients asking you when they come in the office? What helps you help them?
Doctor 1: I actually turn it around. I ask the patients the questions. Sorry, yeah! It’s much easier if I ask the questions. And I ask the questions according to the history that we’ve given them. They have a questionnaire that we have mailed to them; but, also according to the Unified Parkinson’s Rating Scale. When you go through that, it covers a lot of the features of Parkinson’s. In addition to that, I ask other things such as sleep . . . Then I can get some feel of what’s bothering them the most.
You can’t solve all their problems in one day. You try to determine, what is it that is troubling them the most? Is it their mood? Is it their sleep? Is it their medication adjustment, and then you go from there.
Note: This answer was somewhat unsatisfactory to us. It made us question how much dialogue the physician welcomed from the patient. We also wondered if the doctor was assuming that we were discussing an initial visit, where patient and physician meet for the first time. We hope that is the case. If you have a physician that always has the attitude of “I ask the patients the questions,” you could be missing out on opportunities to discuss things that are important to you. You may miss opportunities to discuss information you recently read, or atypical symptoms that the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale or a health history questionnaire will overlook.
My Parkinson’s Info: What’s the best way for patients to be proactive beyond the doctor’s visit?
Doctor 2: Eating well. Sleeping well. Daily exercise. Mental stimulation. Social stimulation. Things that make people normal are what patients should be living.
My Parkinson’s Info: Do people ever come into the office with information that they get from the Internet that seems unfounded?
Doctor 2: Of course, all the time.
My Parkinson’s Info: What are some common misconceptions that patients come into your office with?
Doctor 2: That Mexican tree bark cures Parkinson’s disease. That IV glutathione cures Parkinson’s disease, and several other naturalistic medicines that are not regulated by the FDA, and that have no basic science behind them.
These people that product these things are driving their Porches and making $1,500 per month off of these patients. When the medications that have been well studied, well documented and can alter disease course are much cheaper, safer and predictive.
My Parkinson’s Info: What role can vitamins play?
Doctor 2: A multi-vitamin can help supplement a well balanced diet. Period.
My Parkinson’s Info: It sounds like almost the same thing that anyone should be doing. A healthy life is a healthy life, isn’t it?
Doctor 2: That’s right. There is no magic pill that makes someone exercise, get mentally stimulated, eat right and feel normal.
But, if vitamin E, Vitamin C, Co Q10, any of these things cured Parkinson’s it would be on the front page of the Globe, of the New York Times, and everything else on the planet. We don’t know that they are safe. A recent article suggests that too much vitamin E causes death.
My Parkinson’s Info: There is some hard science the suggests that Coenzyme Q10 has beneficial effects for people with Parkinson’s disease, isn’t there?
Doctor 1: One study. And it needs to be repeated. It hasn’t been repeated yet. Short trial, and only one does was effective, and it needs to be repeated. It hasn’t been repeated, yet.
Doctor 2: But, in all honesty, it really was not effective.
