According to a study, it was shown that participants that participated in an eight week mindfulness-based intervention had positive results; the intervention helped the participants manage their emotions in regards to Parkinson’s Disease. Another study included participants that had tremors with their Parkinson’s Disease and showed that when they went through an eight week stress management therapy course, they had improvements in dealing with stress and depression. 

Mindfulness Can Alleviate Symptoms Of Parkinson’s Disease

- 90-95% of cases are seen in patients above the age of 60.
- More women have Parkinson's than men
- Genetics accounts for only 10-15% of cases
- Scientists hypothesize that the onset of Parkinson's could be affected by lifestyle and environment

Parkinson's Disease Inheritance Pattern

Nerve cells in the basal ganglia become impaired, and it results in a lower production of dopamine. The decline in motor ability can be explained by this as the part of the brain that controls voluntary movement is affected. Furthermore, the production of norepinephrine is affected. Scientists still do not know what causes the neurons to die but have linked a mutation in the alpha-synuclein to dementia-related symptoms.

Causes of Parkinson's

 If one has low dopamine levels, that can cause motor issues, like tremors, which is a common symptom of Parkinson’s disease. Other symptoms of motor issues include issues with balance, rigid muscles, and bradykinesia. People with Parkinson's disease can also have symptoms that are non-motor, including insomnia, anxiety, depression, and more.  

Symptoms of Parkinson's

Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder. It is caused when the nerve cells that produce domaine in one’s brain die.

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- Anxiety
- Current depression
- Depression relapse risk
- Stress
- Chronic pain
- Emotional distress
- Parkinson's Disease
- High blood pressure
- Sleep problems
- Psychopathy
- Antisocial Behavior
- Antisocial Personality Disorder

Conditions Mindfulness Can Help Alleviate/Treat

- Parkinson's Disease (PD)
- Huntington's Disease (HD)
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
- Creutzfield Jakob Disease (CJD)
- Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
- Alzheimer's Disease (AD)

Examples of Neurodegenerative Diseases

​​Murphy, B. (2019, April 2). Meditation and relaxation techniques for parkinson's disease. Parkinson's News Today. Retrieved October 15, 2021, from https://parkinsonsnewstoday.com/meditation-and-relaxation-techniques-for-parkinsons-disease/

Meditation and Relaxation Techniques for Parkinson's Disease

Mindfulness practice has the potential to help alleviate eating disorders through its effect on maladaptive cognitive and affective processes. Dysfunctional cognitions fuel negative ideas of personhood or self-worth (such as, negative thoughts of personal weight and shape). These negative thoughts can lead to negative eating behaviors such as binging, purging, or restricted eating habits. Mindfulness techniques are then used as a means of expressing to the individuals that their thoughts are only temporary and do not require immediate self-intervention to mend. Therefore, mindfulness reduces the impact of dysfunctional cognitions on individuals, and thus alleviates/treats some of the mechanisms that support eating disorders.

Alleviates/Treats Eating Disorders

Generally speaking, anxiety is a reaction by the body that ensues negative internal experiences such as negative thoughts or feelings. Physical changes may also follow, such as an increase in blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, trembling, and so on.

Anxiety

Generally speaking, depression is an overall feeling of sadness. More specifically, those with depression tend to experience several things such as: an increase or decrease in weight, troubles with concentration, feelings of meaninglessness or worthlessness, thoughts of death or suicide, and so on. 

Depression

Parkinson's Disease 

High blood pressure is when one’s blood pressure, or the force of blood that flows through one’s blood vessels, is too high.  Systolic blood pressure represents the pressure that blood exerts against the walls of the artery. Diastolic blood pressure represents the pressure between the heart’s beats 

High Blood Pressure 

Antisocial behavior can be defined as delinquent or criminal behavior such as manipulation, lying, and criminal activity such as stealing and assault.

Antisocial behavior

Psychopathy is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by impaired emotional responses, lack of empathy, and poor behavioral controls, which most often leads to antisocial deviance and criminal behavior.  It is commonly defined by using three main categories: interpersonal, affective, and behavioral traits.

Psychopathy

According to the DSM-5, antisocial personality disorder is characterized by a complete disregard for the rights and feelings of others. This disregard manifests in several ways, including repeatedly engaging in illegal acts, deceiving or conning others, acting with impulsivity and recklessness, showing irritability and aggression, and failing to fulfill responsibilities like paying debts. Specific examples of these behaviors include involvement in illegal enterprises, cruelty toward others, abandoning jobs with no alternative plans, having multiple sexual partners, getting into frequent fights, and showing reckless disregard for safety, such as through repeated arrests for driving while intoxicated. Individuals with this disorder feel no remorse for their actions and will manipulate, exploit, or abuse others without any sense of guilt.

DSM-5 Diagnostic Features of Antisocial Personality Disorder

- An Inherited, adult-onset, eventually fatal brain disease.
- About 41,000 Americans have HD symptoms; 200,000 are at-risk of inheriting HD


Huntington's Disease (HD) | Introduction

Alzheimer's disease is a specific type of dementia characterized as an irreversible, progressive brain disorder, which is understood to have a genetic basis. It gradually destroys memory and cognitive skills, eventually impairing the ability to perform simple tasks like walking, talking, and eating. This severe cognitive decline is associated with the formation of plaques in the brain resulting from cell death.

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