Frequently Asked Questions
Is this treatment guaranteed to work?
The official goal of the current research is to confirm or not that people with Parkinson's disease appear to have had an unresolved injury in the area of ST-42. All other information, such as the fact that people recover from Parkinson's disease when this injury is resolved and Qi is restored to the Stomach and Spleen channels of the foot, and whichever other areas have been affected, is merely circumstantial at this point. Even if, as we seem to be finding, it turns out that a high percentage of people with idiopathic Parkinson's do recover, there is no medical treatment in the world that works for 100% of the people. Therefore, we do not make guarantees that this program will cure anyone's problems. Also, we also do not possess a crystal ball and cannot guess who is likely to recovery and who is not. For more information on this topic, please see the question How Long Will it Take for me to Recover?
Although we are beginning to recognize certain characteristics including age, attitude, and complications from other illnesses that may influence recovery and rate of recovery, there is not yet a definite way to state who will most benefit from this work.
Certainly, however, we have found that treatment for Parkinson's disease can only be effective if the patient's ailment is in fact Parkinson's disease.
Misdiagnosis
A very big problem at this point is the fact that at least 30% of people diagnosed with idiopathic Parkinson's do not actually have idiopathic Parkinson's. Studies have repeatedly shown that misdiagnosis is rampant in this arena. Even autopsy studies reveal that nearly a quarter of people diagnosed with Parkinson's disease show no signs of substantia nigral change - the event that, according to western medical theory, is supposed to define Parkinson's disease. Furthermore, a person with a history of alcohol or drug abuse (drug abuse in this case can include the correct, prescribed usage of anti-anxiety or anti-depressant medication if those drugs are taken for more than one or two weeks), can set in motion permanent brain changes in the substantia nigra. These changes can cause a condition called drug- or toxin-induced parkinsonism (small "p"). This disorder, which superficially resembles Parkinson's disease, is physiologically very different. The cell death caused by regular (more than one or two weeks) use of antidepressants, antianxiety, or anti pain drugs such as Prozac, Zoloft, Wellbutrin, Valium, Percocet, Xanax, Ativan, etc, can cause symptoms that resemble the dopamine-related portions of Parkinson's disease. True idiopathic Parkinson's, however, has many features that are not dopamine-related. Some of the non-dopamine related aspects may include symptoms such as constipation that does not respond to laxatives, postural hypotension, compression of the vocal cords, loss of swallow reflex, sebhorreal skin in the areas of acupoint LI-20 and ST-2 through ST-4, difficulty taking a deep breath if the arms are lifted over the head, the particular PD sleeping pattern, and of course, the much studied Parkinson's Personality, characterized by rare intensity of purpose, harm avoidance, and other qualities too involved to discuss in this intoductory web page. Another difference between the two seemingly similar illnesses is a point of great significance: recent studies done since the inception of our project have confirmed one of our first hypotheses - substantia nigra cells in people with idiopathic Parkinson's disease are not dead, they are simply dormant.
Still other illnesses that are often misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease are stroke, dystonia, pinched nerve in the neck, familial tremor, essential tremor, and early Alzheimer's. If you suspect one of these illnesses may be the more correct diagnosis, please get a second opinion. More information about these misdiagnoses, and further differences between drug- or toxin-induced parkinsonism and idiopathic Parkinson's disease will be presented in the next revision of the Practitioner's Handbook. For now, the important thing to be aware of is that our program is indicated only for idiopathic Parkinson's disease.
More about drug-induced parkinsonism
A book, Medications of Parkinson's Disease, is available for free download on the Publications page of this website. This book has details, quotes, and citations from respected journals about drug-induced parkinsonism, as well as information about the relationship between dopamine and adrenaline, and insights into the Parkinson's personality. People who have never used PD medications have said that they understand Parkinson's much better after reading this book. We now recommend this book, and its explanations of the relationship between the dopamine and the parasympathetic nervous system, and find it to be extremely helpful in helping patients and practitioners alike to understand both why develop Parkinson's develops and why Yin Tui Na, rather than any forceful method (needles or herbs) must be the dominant healing paradigm. Although this approach to understanding the illness goes via the biochemisty route rather than the Asian medical theory route, and is therefore contained in a book about dopamine rather than a book about channel theory, there is much overlap between the two realms. Also, the book is written for the lay person, and the technical biochemical terminology is kept to a minimum.
Return to Frequently asked Questions