Your Daughter's In Town: Living With Parkinson's Disease

This is an article I wrote for the Parkinson Foundation of Western Pennsylvania’s January, 2011 newsletter.

Parkinson’s is a big enough challenge without feeling lousy because you’re constipated.  We know that constipation’s uncomfortable and can be dangerous and that people with Parkinson’s find it to be particularly bothersome.  Before we started eating smarter (see my article in the September 2010 issue of The Torch), my mother was plagued by constipation. Now it’s only an occasional problem.  Here’s what we do:

Drink more water and go to the bathroom on a regular schedule.  That way you won’t be caught off guard and chance an accident.

Eat more fiber and less dairy and stay away from processed food and pre-packaged prepared foods (middle of the store stuff).  Particularly stay away from store-bought baked goods.  The exception, in my opinion, is Breadworks bread (or any European-style bread) which is delicious, satisfying and healthy and these days can be found throughout our region or take a trip to the bakery on the Northside.  Stock up, it freezes well.  Home bakers can use unbleached flour, whole wheat white flour or an unbleached white/whole wheat combo

An apple a day has loads of fiber.  Eat it with the skin but if you’re buying non-organic apples, make sure they’re clean.  Apples are heavily treated with pesticides.

Other high fiber foods include raspberries, pears, bananas, strawberries and oranges; whole wheat pasta (also delicious; they’ve come a long way from the days when it tasted like cardboard and penne and ziti are much easier to eat), pearled barley, popcorn; split peas, lentils, black beans; peas, broccoli, corn, turnip greens and baked potatoes with scrubbed skins.

Don’t resist the urge to have a bowel movement.  When you feel the need to go, go.  Prop your feet up on a small stool; the most natural position for bowel movements is a squat so if you have a booster seat on your toilet the position you’re in is completely unnatural for success.

Exercise to the extent that you’re able.  Movement keeps things moving.

PINK LENTIL SOUP

I halve the recipe though I’m sure it freezes well.  I also process the vegetables kind of small with an inexpensive mini processor.  It’s fast, easy, full of flavor and comforting.  My mother and I love it.

• 1 large onion
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
• 1½ tsp. ground cumin
• 1½ tsp. ground coriander
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1¾ cups pink lentils, rinsed
• 1 or 2 stalks celery with leaves
• 2 or 3 carrots
• 4 C vegetable broth
• 4 C water
• salt and pepper
• minced fresh ginger to taste

Heat the olive oil. Add the onion and cook until soft, then add garlic, cumin, coriander, and cayenne, stir. Don’t add salt until the very end.

When the spices become fragrant, add the chopped carrots and celery.  Cook until soft.

Add the lentils and 4C water and 4C vegetable broth and simmer, with lid ajar stirring occasionally for about 45 minutes until the lentils have disintegrated and the soup is creamy.

Add salt and pepper to taste, add the minced ginger.   Serve with good bread.

We’ve all heard that getting enough fish oil (omega-3) is good for our hearts.  Turns out, it may also be helpful to people with Parkinson’s.

For one thing, higher doses (do your research and figure out what’s best for you) help with depression and studies show it also has neuroprotective qualities as well.  Scientists have found that high doses of omega-3 given to mice who also were treated with a neurotoxin that mimics Parkinson’s, completely prevented the neurotoxin-induced decrease of dopamine that ordinarily occurs.

Most of us don’t get enough Omega-3s from eating at least three  servings of oily fish a week:  mackerel, sardines, herring, wild salmon (not farm-raised or Atlantic salmon) so we need to depend on supplements that come from a reliable source:  heavy metals and toxins can be a problem since we’ve managed to pollute even the deepest ocean waters.

Omega-3s from fish oils are also shown to lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease though they should not be taken by people who take blood thinners or who are preparing for surgery.

I’ve been taking 2,400 mg of fish oil a day for about six months.  My LDL cholesterol has decreased and HDL has increased.  I also find that I’m not experiencing the winter blues that usually plague me this time of year.  I’m making an effort to prepare more oily fish for my mother and me — I’ve been buying tins of smoked mackerel and cans of wild salmon– and I will start my mother on fish oil supplements.

For years my mother has operated fairly successfully taking the round yellow 25/100 carbidopa & levodopa tablet made by Actavis.  Within the past few months her mail-in pharmacy has sent her an oval yellow tablet made by Sun Pharmaceutical.  For starters, the oval tablet is difficult to split and she mentioned to her PCP last week that something was wrong with the Sun Pharma product (though we didn’t realize at the time that it was a different manufacturer).  She said it dissolved on her tongue and was less effective.

When we got home I checked the bottles, realized they were made by two different manufacturers and went to work getting her the pills that worked well in the past.  The pharmacy requires a new prescription indicating that my mother receive the Actavis product only and that, while it’s too early for an insurance-covered refill, an override should be issued.

We talked to the neurologist yesterday who said that if the tablet is dissolving on her tongue it’s reaching her brain faster and may wear off more quickly as a result.  Clearly generics are not identical to the original or to each other.

So, if you’re noticing that your medication isn’t working so well, check the manufacturer information on the prescription bottle.  Better yet, if you notice that what you’re receiving has changed in shape or appearance, keep track of how it’s working and make changes more promptly than we did.

This is an article I wrote for the Parkinson Foundation of Western PA’s September, 2010 newsletter.

I’m a daughter who cooks for myself and my 86 year-old mother who has lived with Parkinson’s for nearly 16 years, hasn’t fallen in more than two, sleeps soundly, does her own laundry and whose digestive system works well.  I am not a nutritionist or a food scientist.  I know that Parkinson’s affects everyone differently.

A January 2008 fall left my mother weak and unable to walk. Caring for her evolved into living together and close proximity made me aware of how what she ate affected her.  I decided to rethink our diet.

Over the years I’ve read, experimented and become a whole lot smarter about what’s healthy and safe to eat and what’s poison to my nervous system and most assuredly to my mother’s (artificial sweeteners).  I’m learning what’s full of pesticides or growth hormones and what’s better to buy organic.  I don’t buy processed foods or “food” that comes in boxes (except cereal and dried fruit).  Beef that’s corn-fattened in feed lots is rarely on the menu but sometimes it’s all that’s available. I steer clear of farm-raised fish including artificially colored salmon so we eat canned salmon; it’s nutritious, inexpensive and usually wild-caught.  The goal is to eat wholesome, easily prepared food that doesn’t break the bank.

My meat-loving mother finds a mostly Mediterranean Diet to her liking.  Its pyramid shows breads, pasta, rice, bulgur, polenta and other grains and potatoes at the bottom (daily), then fruits, beans, legumes (including soy), nuts and vegetables at the next level (daily), then cheese, yogurt, fish, poultry, eggs and sweets (a few times per week) and red meat—beef and pork—at  the very top (sparingly).   Wine (in moderation) makes the pyramid, too!  This diet is delicious and truly satisfying.

Here’s a recipe for sweet potato fritters that satisfies meat cravings without going overboard and can sit atop a salad or serve as a side dish without the ham.  I’ve successfully adjusted this recipe using what I have on hand.

Sweet Potato-and-Ham Fritters

Serves 4

• 1 ¼ pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and grated
• ½ pound ham, chopped (I use less and only sodium nitrite/nitrate-free; Boar’s Head sells low-salt ham)
• 5 scallions finely chopped
• 2/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1/3 cup flour
• Salt and pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• ½ cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 200°.  Place a rack on a baking sheet and put it in the oven.  In a large bowl toss the sweet potatoes, ham, onions, parsley and flour; season with salt and pepper.  In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the mustard.  Stir the egg mixture into the sweet potato mixture.

In a large, heavy skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat.  Working two at a time, add 1/3-cup mounds of sweet potato mixture, flattening into rounds.  Lower the heat to medium and cook until golden, 3 minutes on each side; transfer to baking sheet to keep warm.  Add 2 tablespoons oil between batches.

Every Day With Rachael Ray

My mother, Anne, and me

My mother has been living with Parkinson’s Disease for 16 years and there’s much that I’ve learned along the way.  She and I have been living together for the past nearly three years since she fell, seriously hurt herself and was unable to live alone.  It’s been quite an education for both of us.

I’ve figured out over the years what’s best for her to eat (and me, for that matter), I’ve created menus that are heavy on plants and legumes and much lighter on animal products but are still satisfying to my meat-loving mother.  We’re figuring out what she needs to do to function at her best.  It’s difficult to resist the temptation to “do for” and to stave off well -meaning friends and family who feel the need to jump in and help, particularly when my mother’s slowness prompts them to action.

We are part of a Parkinson’s community through the Parkinson Foundation of Western PA.  I understand that every case of Parkinson’s is different.  With that in mind I hope to include information here that I create–I write a nutrition column for the Parkinson Foundation newsletter–daily living tips and suggestions that I’ve discovered or have been shared with me, and information that I find regarding nutritional supplements, Medicare and other services that may be available but unknown to most unless you dig for them.

As I figure out how to use this page I’ll include links to resources I think are helpful to PDers and their families and caregivers.

My goal is to keep my mother at home and as healthy as she can be and be very OK with it.