Category Archives: Parkinson’s Treatment

By Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter FRIDAY, Aug. 15, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Robin Williams was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease before he committed suicide this week, and he was sober at the time of his death, his wife announced Thursday afternoon. In a prepared statement, Susan Schneider said her husband continued his decades-long battle against depression and anxiety, and he was in the early stages of Parkinson's when he was found dead at his suburban San Francisco home on Monday. Schneider said her husband, the celebrated Oscar-winning actor and comedian, wasn't prepared to publicly share his Parkinson's diagnosis. "Robin's sobriety was intact and he was brave as he struggled with his own battles of depression [and] anxiety as well as early stages of Parkinson's disease, which he was not yet ready to share publicly," Schneider said. "It is our hope in the wake of Robin's tragic passing that others will find the strength to seek the care and support they need to treat whatever battles they are facing so they may feel less afraid," she said. Besides depression and anxiety, Williams had struggled on and off with substance abuse over the years. And he underwent open heart surgery in 2009. Dr. … Continue reading →

Watch more news videos | Latest from the USCopy Comedian Rob Schneider's Twitter rant blaming Parkinson's drugs for Robin Williams' death has highlighted the delicate balance between the risks and benefits of the prescription drugs millions of people take every day. In a series of tweets Monday, Schneider blasted the "evil pharmaceutical industry" for admitting that "100,000 people in the USA die a year from prescription drugs," some of which list suicide as a side effect. Robin Williams Was in 'Early Stages of Parkinson's Disease,' Wife Says Robin Williams' Inspiring Message to Ill Fan Before His Death 'Mrs. Doubtfire' Star Mara Wilson Remembers Her 'Favorite Teacher' Robin Williams But Parkinson's disease experts say Schneider is out of line. "Suicide is of no more concern in patients with Parkinson's versus those who don't have Parkinson's," said Dr. Irene Richard, a professor of neurology and psychiatry at the University of Rochester Medical Center and a science adviser to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. In fact, a 2008 Howard University study found that people with Parkinson's are ten times less likely to commit suicide than the average person. Robin Williams' widow revealed after the comedian's death that Williams had been … Continue reading →

It's tough to know if a person with Parkinson's disease is depressed. Muscle stiffness can cause even the most content person with Parkinson's to have a mask-like, inexpressive face or soft, monotone speech. But patients, caregivers and doctors should not dismiss those symptoms merely as signs of physical disease, local experts in mental health and movement disorders said. Recent research shows a significant number of people with Parkinson's disease suffer from depression, sometimes in response to being ill, but sometimes due to changes in brain chemistry caused by the illness itself. Even well-informed medical providers don't always catch it, they said. "Depression can be missed, even by the patient, and is not aggressively treated," said Robin Tassinari, a psychiatrist at Albany Medical Center. The recent death of actor Robin Williams has focused attention on both depression and Parkinson's disease. Williams, found dead from an apparent suicide a week ago, was suffering from both conditions, according to his widow. Williams was said to be in the early stages of Parkinson's, and had struggled with depression for years. So it's unlikely that being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease caused his depression, though there's no telling from published reports whether it worsened his mental … Continue reading →

Michael Parkinson: I think the Cliff Richard case only highlights the feeling there is some kind of witch hunt going on. Photograph: Brian J Ritchie/Rex Features Former BBC journalist Sir Michael Parkinson has described the corporations handling of the police investigation into singer Sir Cliff Richard as an error of judgment that would have done the red tops credit. Sir Michael called for greater protection of peoples anonymity until they are charged. The veteran TV host also criticised the media as a whole for its wider reaction to news that appears on social media, calling for it to be more responsible in how it handles such information. Criticising media reporting of the search at Sir Cliffs home, he told ITV News: I just think that its wrong. I think anybody not charged should not be named by the police and shouldnt be reported in the newspapers either. I think the Cliff Richard case only highlights the feeling there is some kind of witch hunt going on. I think the BBC did create an error in judgment not in understanding the story and having the story and trying to follow it through but in reacting to the story in a kind … Continue reading →

By Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, Aug. 14, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Robin Williams was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease before he committed suicide this week, and he was sober at the time of his death, his wife announced Thursday afternoon. In a prepared statement, Susan Schneider said her husband continued his decades-long battle with depression and anxiety, and he was in the early stages of Parkinson's when he was found dead at his suburban San Francisco home on Monday. Schneider said her husband, the celebrated Oscar-winning actor and comedian, wasn't prepared to publicly share his Parkinson's diagnosis. "Robin's sobriety was intact and he was brave as he struggled with his own battles of depression [and] anxiety as well as early stages of Parkinson's disease, which he was not yet ready to share publicly," Schneider said, according to published reports. "It is our hope in the wake of Robin's tragic passing that others will find the strength to seek the care and support they need to treat whatever battles they are facing so they may feel less afraid," she said. Besides depression and anxiety, Williams had struggled on and off with substance abuse over the years. According to the U.S. National … Continue reading →

STORY HIGHLIGHTS (CNN) -- Robin Williams was sober but was struggling with depression, anxiety and the early stages of Parkinson's disease when he died, his widow said Thursday. The diagnosis of the progressive illness was "an additional fear and burden in his life," a person familiar with Williams' family told CNN on Thursday. Williams was found dead in his Northern California home Monday from what investigators suspect was a suicide by hanging. While fans and friends have looked for answers to why the 63-year-old comedy icon would take his own life, his wife, Susan Schneider, issued a written statement about Williams' health that he had kept a secret. "Since his passing, all of us who loved Robin have found some solace in the tremendous outpouring of affection and admiration for him from the millions of people whose lives he touched," Schneider said. "His greatest legacy, besides his three children, is the joy and happiness he offered to others, particularly to those fighting personal battles. Comedic actor Robin Williams dies Comedic actor Robin Williams dies Comedic actor Robin Williams dies Comedic actor Robin Williams dies Read more from the original source: Robin Williams had Parkinson's disease … Continue reading →

Robin Williams' widow stunned many of his fans Thursday when she announced that not only was her husband suffering from depression and anxiety at the time of his death, he also was in the early stages of Parkinson's Disease. Experts say Williams' case is not so unusual, as depression and Parkinson's are often linked. Dr. Michael Okun, the medical director of the National Parkinson Foundation's and a professor of neurology at the University of Florida, says depression among Parkinson's patients has been largely misunderstood until recently. "We have recently learned that depression in Parkinson's is actually quite common. It occurs in more than half of people with this disease and it is the largest unmet hurdle to treatment," Okun told CTV News Channel from Gainesville, Fla. Okun says several large studies in recent years have revealed that for many Parkinson's patients, depression is not just a reaction to their diagnosis -- although that does occur. The disease itself can increase the risk of depression, he says. "We now know there are biological changes in the brain, both from the degenerative process but also because of changes in chemicals such as dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine. So we now know there is … Continue reading →

Could Robin Williams's battle with Parkinson's disease have exacerbated his existing issues with depression? On Thursday, the late actor's widow, Susan Schneider, revealed Williams had been struggling, before his death at age 63, with the early stages of the neurodegenerative disorder. Michael J. Fox has said that he felt depressed and turned to alcohol when he was first diagnosed with the disease in 1991. "My first reaction to it was to start drinking heavily," he admitted last year. "I used to drink to party, but now I was drinking alone and every day." "Once I did that it was then about a year of like a knife fight in a closet, where I just didn't have my tools to deal with it," he said. Fox went to Alcoholics Anonymous and therapy to help him cope. Fox Tweeted his reaction Thursday to the news of Williams's own struggle with the diagnosis, and noted that the Academy Award winner supported his foundation for Parkinson's research. "Stunned to learn Robin had PD. Pretty sure his support for our Fdn predated his diagnosis. A true friend; I wish him peace." The disease causes many patients to "suffer from major depression," according to Dr. Michael … Continue reading →

Shara Tibken/CNET Intel's upcoming wave of wearable technology won't be aimed at helping the chip maker establish itself in the budding consumer electronics' space now filling up with smartwatches and fitness bands. Rather, Intel's devices will serve a grander purpose: helping research on and treatment of neurodegenerative brain disease. Intel announced Wednesday a partnership with the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, the nonprofit founded in 2000 by the "Back to the Future" movie actor and Parkinson's advocate who has suffered from the illness since 1991. The goal will be to combine Intel's hardware and software -- specifically an upcoming mobile app, new wearable devices, and a data analytics platform -- for a multi-phase research study that will take advantage of monitoring techniques unique to technology. The hope is that wearables and analytic studies of the data they produce could better record a patient's symptoms, such as hand tremors, and offer new insights into Parkinson's disease and its drug treatments, which have been difficult to study objectively on a widespread scale in the past. "Nearly 200 years after Parkinson's disease was first described by Dr. James Parkinson in 1817, we are still subjectively measuring Parkinson's disease largely the same … Continue reading →

STORY HIGHLIGHTS (CNN) -- Robin Williams was sober but was struggling with depression, anxiety and the early stages of Parkinson's disease when he died, his widow said Thursday. The diagnosis of the progressive illness was "an additional fear and burden in his life," a person familiar with Williams' family told CNN on Thursday. Williams was found dead in his Northern California home Monday from what investigators suspect was a suicide by hanging. While fans and friends have looked for answers to why the 63-year-old comedy icon would take his own life, his wife, Susan Schneider, issued a written statement about Williams' health that he had kept a secret. "Since his passing, all of us who loved Robin have found some solace in the tremendous outpouring of affection and admiration for him from the millions of people whose lives he touched," Schneider said. "His greatest legacy, besides his three children, is the joy and happiness he offered to others, particularly to those fighting personal battles. Comedic actor Robin Williams dies Comedic actor Robin Williams dies Comedic actor Robin Williams dies Comedic actor Robin Williams dies Continued here: Wife: Robin Williams had Parkinson's … Continue reading →