Tag: cranial Nerve

6th… From Out-Thinking… neck and shoulders

11 ACCESSORY NERVE 

Cranial Nerve 11 – “supplies specific muscles which tilt and rotate the head, and the trapezius muscle, which works the scapula, including for shoulder elevation and movement of the arm away from the body.”

“Neck and shoulder problems are extremely common  in PD. For example, “frozen shoulder” is a very common initial mis-diagnosis, as was the case for myself. The head and shoulder movements mentioned above are particularly difficult for PwP to access.”

……………………………..This article gave me new insight. Eight years ago I had been experiencing shoulder pain. After turning 65, and qualifying for insurance, I mentioned the discomfort with trying to lift my arm. The physician suspected rotatory cuff and sent me to physical therapy. I went, but didn’t see any benefit. Then, after moving to Florida, at age 68, I visited with a chiropractor who, using pressure points while rotating my arm, showed me how I could get pain relief. Although the fix was only temporary, it was appreciated.

Funny thing is… after receiving my diagnosis for Parkinson’s and experimenting with the keto diet and trying hemp oil from the health food store…both my TMJ and my shoulder pain went away… as well as the sores at the corners of my mouth (presumably a side effect of my drooling). I switched up my diet after loosing too much weight on the keto diet… and previously had quit using the hemp oil. The sores at the corners of my mouth have returned, but so far, neither the TMJ nor the shoulder pain. I count my blessings.

5th… From Out-Thinking… Gut

10 VAGUS NERVE 

“…it’s a unique cranial nerve in that it innervates the trunk, the torso, the organs, it actually supplies all of the major trunk organs and it’s a bi-directional nerve -we call it a mixed nerve. It’s got fibers going from the brain to the organs, controlling them, and then it’s got fibers going from the organs to the brain, which is a way of letting the brain know what’s happening in the torso, in the body,”

The Vagus nerve is by far the largest part of the “parasympathetic” nervous system.

“I first discovered the Vagus Nerve (VN) when I was researching how Parkinson’s Disease begins in the gut: It became obvious to me that the VN must indeed have a very primary role in PD.”

“Since Chronic Fatigue is a major symptom of Parkinson’s Disease too, what this line of research is revealing should therefore be of significance relevance to PwP. Indeed, viral vectors have also been increasingly implicated in the onset of PD over recent years.”

From an interview with: HARVARD NEUROSCIENTIST DR. MICHAEL VAN ELZAKKER: CHRONIC FATIGUE VAGUS NERVE LINK

“The vagus nerve actually detects cytokines in the periphery and then sends a signal to the brain, essentially letting the brain know that the body is sick.”

“There were some important studies done … where they would pick a rat and inject them with E. coli, say, some sort of a bacteria that would make the rat sick. And of course, the rat acts sick. It doesn’t run on a wheel, it doesn’t eat as much, it doesn’t socialize. That’s true unless you cut the vagus nerve, and then the rat acts normally. It’s essentially, its brain doesn’t know that its body is sick.”

“That’s one of the really important functions of the vagus nerve, of which there are many, but that’s one of the important functions of the vagus nerve, the sensory vagus nerve that goes from the organs to the brain.”

“…  the vagus nerve innervates all of the trunk organs, and that includes the heart… the vagus nerve that comes from the brain to the organs is called the motor vagus or the efferent vagus, and that actually does control heart rate and that’s one of the main ways that we can measure vagal tone is what’s called heart rate variability and it’s the difference in heart rate between breaths. That’s very much a vagus nerve thing”

1st… From Out-Thinking Parkinsons

I discovered a sight that addresses symptoms and explanations which I have found nowhere else. I have divided the things I found most interesting to be shared over the next week of posts.

“Dr Gary Sharpe, Phd, is a scientist and engineer by background, diagnosed with Early Onset Parkinson’s Disease in 2009. After six years of dying inside, he started “Out-Thinking Parkinson’s” in January 2016 in order to pursue pragmatic and practical solutions towards progressive symptom reduction for people with Parkinson’s Disease. Today, Out-Thinking Parkinson’s has become a major resource, where Gary and colleagues from around the world, who also have an insider’s perspective of PD, share their knowledge, philosophies and experience of living well with PD, and, also, record their stories of recovery.”

http://www.outthinkingparkinsons.com/

“Many of the major and common symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease are not very well explained by the “death of dopamine producing cells in the Substantia Nigra” scenario. However, atrophy of the Cranial Nerves in people with Parkinson’s (PwP) does very straightforwardly explain most of these major secondary symptoms, and, I believe, does so in a very common sense way.”

“This conclusion is important, because if correct, it means that no chemical “cure”, which addresses only the dopamine production issue, will, by itself, fix the causes of the other symptoms too. Indeed, undoing atrophy of any kind in the brain and body takes time and the patient application of suitable stimulation, exercises and therapies. I therefore recommend that we PwP do not just sit and wait for “the lure of cure” to ever materialize, but instead to err on the side of caution: I believe we need to begin the process of bringing our atrophied brains and bodies back from the brink, soonest.”

“Below, (i.e. within the week of posts) I also present a number of suggestions for Cranial Nerve stimulation techniques, which should help us in this regard, if we apply them daily, over the long term.”

NOSE

1 OLFACTORY NERVE  

Cranial Nerve 1 –  “transmits nerve impulses about odours to the central nervous system, where they are perceived by the sense of smell; the olfactory nerve is somewhat unusual among cranial nerves because it is capable of some regeneration if damaged.”

“The loss of sense of smell is one of the earliest manifestations and cardinal symptoms of PD.”

………………………………………..I can’t say how much my sense of smell might be impacted, but I have retained some. 🙂