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Houston man reverses Parkinson's symptoms with lifestyle changes
This Parkinson's Awareness Month, a former federal agent from Houston is sharing how lifestyle changes are making the disease a lot easier for him to deal with. Exercise plus a clinical trial are helping him give Parkinson's a one-two punch.
HOUSTON - This Parkinson's Awareness Month, a former federal agent/former Houston police officer is sharing how lifestyle changes are making the disease easier for him to deal with. He believes the major lifestyle changes he has made, plus a clinical trial he's participating in at UTHealth Houston have made a world of difference in his disease.
Bobby's first signs of Parkinson's Disease began almost ten years ago.
"Part of my job as a federal agent was to have quarterly firearms qualifications and part of that is to have a timed reload drill of a pistol. I was having difficulty reloading, I couldn't get it done in time, I was dropping the magazine, because I had a minor, intermittent tremor, and it gradually started getting worse," explains Bobby. "I had stiffness, rigidity, I was exhibiting postural instability, I wasn't swinging my right arm, and was dragging my right foot. My wife would encourage me to stand up straight"
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Since those are all typical symptoms of Parkinson's, he was quickly diagnosed. He started medications to help deal with the symptoms and put a plan in place to knock out the symptoms, including non-contact boxing. "It offers great therapy! It's explosive movement, lateral back and forth movement, it's balance because you're blocking, those things are great for Parkinson's," exclaims an enthusiastic Bobby.
His wife is impressed with his ability to fight Parkinson's. "Robert has an incredible sense of humor and I think his military and law enforcement background bring a level of discipline that most people don't have. While there was little time to accept it, there was not a lot of pity party going on. He pretty much dove in! He's an avid reader, a history buff, he immediately dove into this to find out how to deal with it and what to do, what actions to take, what sports to change, and he instantly made lifestyle changes," explains his wife, Stacy.
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"It's important and you can't just rely on the medication, you have to take ownership of the disease, you have to stop feeling sorry for yourself and get on your feet! The one thing I did was get a boxing coach," explains Bobby. His doctor believes this was a smart approach for him.
It is actually a proven therapy and there are boxing groups of Parkinson's patients all over the country. The condition is caused by a loss of nerve cells, and the goal is to try to stop the loss plus regenerate those cells. Doctors believe a toxic environment from things like pesticides could cause the problem. It can also be caused by genetics or even a brain injury (concussion) puts someone at higher risk of Parkinson's. Doctors say the biggest risk factor is probably just aging since the majority of people with Parkinson’s are over the age of 60 years old.
Bobby's doctor is Dr. Mya Schiess with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. She is a neurologist and a movement disorders specialist and says she’s impressed with how Bobby is dealing with Parkinson's. "He's a dynamic person who embraces life so much. His attitude has made a huge difference - he is not about to be stopped," exclaims Dr. Schiess.
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She encourages all of her patients to live a neuroprotective lifestyle. That emphasizes the importance of exercising the body and brain, getting quality sleep, and making smart food choices.
Bobby has also joined a Phase 2 clinical trial, studying 45 patients with Parkinson's, at UTHealth. "This stem cell therapy has been so interesting. It was a series of six infusions, so lots of tests before the stem cells and then tests at the end of the infusions," explains Stacy.
"It's a first of its kind, FDA-approved in the nation and we're actually just wrapping it up. Some individuals get placebo, and some individuals get treated with donor mesenchymal stem cells, derived from bone marrow. These are very specific cells that react to inflammation in the body, preferably in our study, it's reacting to inflammation in the brain, which happens in Parkinson's disease," says Dr. Schiess.
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Bobby doesn't know if he got the stem cells or a placebo, but he and his wife, Stacy, believe he got the stem cells. "After the first one, we didn't see a lot, we just sat back and tried to judge things. After the second one, I noticed his vocabulary improved considerably and he was more engaged in conversation. I think he was concentrating on physical attributes that improved, I was focused on some of the mental and psychological ones," says Stacy.
"I was more surprised than anything else! I actually got a stronger sense of hope, in my mind at least, there were distinguishable improvements that I saw and others started noticing improvements. When I say improvements, my balance, my walk, all the main symptoms," says a smiling Bobby. "I had lost use of my right dominant hand, as far as writing and eating, I defaulted to my left hand and just out of the blue, I'm eating breakfast with my wife and started eating with my right hand again, so that was the moment that I realized I'm not getting a placebo, I'm pretty sure I'm getting the real deal."
"It was as if someone turned back his odometer on Parkinson's and it was like he was able to go back to a point in time to a much earlier time of the illness, and I think that's what we saw from the stem cells," said Stacy. Dr. Schiess hopes the results of the clinical trial will be available by October.
Another thing that has helped Bobby is a strong support group of other families dealing with Parkinson's in Houston. "It helped him accept it's not a death sentence, it's a chronic disease and illness but people generally don't die from Parkinson's, it's a disease you have to manage. Bobby helped other people accept their diagnosis through that group," says Stacy.
Acceptance plays an important role in Parkinson's. It's a chronic disease that Dr. Schiess says many people live 40 years with. "So, I think people need to understand as life-changing as this diagnosis is, if you can partner with really good health care providers and develop an attitude of embracing life, it matters immensely," exclaims Dr. Schiess.
For more information on Parkinson's disease, click here.