Parkinson's: my view
Parkinson's: the smell
In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Juliet argues that Romeo's family name does not matter as she's in love with a person and not a family name, when she says "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Smells also can be indicative of an underlying health issue or even the presence of a disease, as Joy Milne has proved.
"Joy Milne’s husband Les was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at the age of 45. However, it had been 12 years earlier when Joy had first noticed that something was different about him.
Joy has a rare condition called hereditary hypersomnia that gives her a heightened sense of smell. When Les was 33, she noticed that he had started to develop an odour, which she described as a subtle, musky smell."
A chance meeting in the UK in 2012 between Joy Milne and medical researcher Dr Tilo Kunath (both in the picture below) has led to research into early detection of Parkinson's Disease (PD) through smell. In the initial pilot study, Joy correctly identified the t-shirts worn by patients with PD in the patient group as well as one in the control group. The latter is fascinating because the t-shirt wearer in the control group (supposedly those without PD) was diagnosed with PD eight months later!
Based on the Milne evidence, researchers are investigating if a portable device - an E-Nose, using artificial intelligence - could be built to detect PD. There is also progress with using skin swabs to detect PD: great work all round.
Parkinson's: "Paws for thought"
Let's digress, dear reader. Apparently, dogs as we know them - domesticated animals - are descendants of the gray wolf, that has an incredible sense of smell. So, since 1888, bloodhounds have been trained to sniff out people like Jack the Ripper. Police, nowadays, use the incredible sense of smell that dogs have in order to detect illegal foods, plants and drugs at airports. "Cadaver" dogs have been trained to find dead bodies years after their burial underground or in shallow waters. If you think that's impressive then just read on...
According to one British researcher's blog of an in-depth study of the history of dogs, it was during the eighteenth century that "[a]nimals started to be kept by a greater number of people simply for pleasure and companionship." The UK has recently taken this a step further by considering introducing a law that makes abducting a pet a crime. And sniffer dogs have evolved.
Bearing in mind the Joy Milne story earlier, dogs in the USA have now been trained to sniff out parkinsed people. A dog trainer, Lisa Holt and Nancy Jones (whose husband has PD) teamed up to look into training dogs to sniff out PD and a short video clip illustrates this. They are so confident of their work that they have approached the Michael J. Fox Foundation for funding.
Parkinson's: children's views
I'd like to share the following, regarding the observations of two five-year olds looking at me. Around 2015, in Pretoria, a few years after I was diagnosed with PD, we were entertaining friends when their five year old looked at my right arm tremor. She said: "Hoekom bewe oom Ari se arm so - is oom koud?" {"Uncle Ari, why is your arm shaking - are you cold?"} Naturally, I answered "yes" indicating that I was cold. I should have engaged her more but I did not.
A few weeks ago, in Durban, another five year old said the following: "Why is your arm wiggling?" I was fascinated with her observation and, comfortable with my state, I explained that I had an illness where my muscles don't work properly anymore hence the "wiggle". Her immediate query was "Is it sore?" to which I answered "No." She smiled and said "Ok!" and continued playing. On reflection I realised that I had come to terms with my being parkinsed compared to 2015. Also, both children were just curious about the unnatural tremor and just wanted to know why. This is in contrast with the many adults who merely sneak a peek at my tremors and, maybe, wonder if what I have is contagious. Hmmm...till next time.
