Parkinson's Disease Books

Life in the Balance: A Physician's Memoir of Life, Love, and Loss with Parkinson's Disease and Dementia

Thomas Graboys, Zh Peter

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Union Square Press Amazon Marketplace: 46 new & used starting at $10.89

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Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Memoirs

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

At the age of 49, Dr. Thomas Graboys had reached the pinnacle of his career and was leading a charmed life. A nationally renowned Boston cardiologist popular for his attention to the hearts and souls of his patients, Graboys was part of “The Cardiology Dream Team” summoned to treat Boston Celtics star Reggie Lewis after he collapsed on the court in 1993. He had a beautiful wife, two wonderful daughters, positions on both the faculty of Harvard Medical School and the staff of Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and a thriving private practice.
Today, Grayboys is battling a particularly aggressive form of Parkinson’s disease and progressive dementia, and can no longer see patients or give rounds. He is stooped, and shuffles when he walks, the gait of a man much older than his 63 years. Despite the physical, mental and emotional toll he battles daily, Graboys continues his life-long mission of caring for the world one human being at a time by telling his story so that others may find comfort, inspiration, or validation in their own struggles.
This is an unflinching memoir of a devastating illness as only a consummate physician could write it. One can’t help but imagine what Dr. Graboys, the healer, would say to Tom Graboys, the patient—a face-to-face scene imagined in this inspiring book. In his joint roles, Thomas Graboys finds a way to convey hope, optimism and an appreciation of what it means to be truly alive.

Delay the Disease -Exercise and Parkinson's Disease

David Zid

Amazon Price: $19.95 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: David Zid

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Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Disorders & Diseases -> Parkinson's Disease

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Better Quality of Life 5 out of 5 stars.
16 of 16 people found this review helpful.

Excellent instructional book. I was diagnosed in early 2004 with PD and frankly did not have much to look forward to. David and his instructional book changed all of that! I now sit-to-stand and walk with ease. My balance has improved and I even dance again! Friends that knew me before Delay the Disease can't believe the improvement and new acquanitances are are shocked to learn that I have PD! The book has easy to use instructions (with corresponding pictures!) and is seperated into three levels of difficulty. Anyone (at any stage) of PD should try this book! It will improve your quality of life. It did for me!

Editorial Review:

David Zid, an ACE, APG certified trainer, has collaborated with orthopedic surgeon, Thomas H. Mallory, M.D., who is afflicted with Parkinson's disease, in the development of a Parkinson's specific fitness program designed to proactively minimize tremors and improve flexibility, stability, balance and strength. Delay the Disease contains colorful photographs of Zid demonstrating each move, as well as recommendations for exercise frequency, modification and how to adjust the workout as one improves. Parkinson's patients participating in Zid's fitness program notice improvement in walking, dressing and maintaining balance. Exercises are divided into categories (wake up call, walking and balance, cardiovascular, strength, facial and vocal, and night-time stretching.

Parkinson's Disease: A Complete Guide for Patients and Families (A Johns Hopkins Press Health Book)

William J. Weiner, Lisa M. Shulman, Anthony E. Lang

Amazon Price: $12.21 List Price: $17.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: The Johns Hopkins University Press Amazon Marketplace: 42 new & used starting at $10.61

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Parkinson's Disease 5 out of 5 stars.
22 of 22 people found this review helpful.

The author of this book did a great job in explaining what Parkinson's Disease is and giving information for the patient and the caregiver. I am a dental hygienist and I learned just an overview of the disease in school. After having my first patient with the disease I decided to learn more about it. I learned alot from this book that I should of already known for my patient. The book tells you the symptoms and the side effects of the disease and advice on drug therapy, diet, and exercise. Some people don't even know that they have the disease for a couple of months or even years. They think it is just old age or arthritis. The book also states what kind of medical advice to seek.
I have never met a patient with Parkinson's Disease until a couple of months ago. I didn't know what to expect. When the patient walked in I was shocked. She looked normal and wasn't shaking. She was the sweetest patient I had met. She explained to me her life and how she lives with the disease. She said that she sometimes gets embarrased to be seen in public when she has her tremors because she thinks that everyone is staring at her. But she said she is the same person as all of us. She just has to take medication and she gets tired alot more than you and me. When I was cleaning her teeth she only had mild tremors so it wasn't that difficult to work on her. But one day I will probably get a patient who has severe tremors but I am ready thanks to this book in guiding me with the knowledge of what I needed to know. I think that if you know someone who has Parkinson's disease or if you would like to learn more about the disease buy this book and you will be filled with all the information you need to know about Parkinson's disease.

Editorial Review:

Recent innovations, including deep brain stimulation and new medications, have significantly improved the lives of people with Parkinson's disease. Nevertheless, medical, emotional, and physical challenges remain. The second edition of this accessible and comprehensive guide provides crucial information for managing this complex condition, including details on the use of medications, diet, exercise, complementary therapies, and surgery.

The second edition includes new information about:

• The genetic and hereditary pattern of the disease

• Medications and uses of established medications

• Other approaches to treating the symptoms of Parkinson's

• Juvenile-onset Parkinson's disease

• Normal pressure hydrocephalus

• The effects of fluctuating hormones on disease symptoms

• Fetal cell transplants and porcine cell transplants

• The nutritional supplement Co-Enzyme Q10

Parkinson's Disease & the Art of Moving

John Argue

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: New Harbinger Publications Amazon Marketplace: 56 new & used starting at $5.44

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A wonderful book! 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

John Argue's method is one that will definitely benefit any Parkinson's sufferer and their caregivers. I also highly recommend the DVDs. The only thing better is to see John in person!
Barbara Baser, Coordinator Information and Referral Center
American Parkinson Disease Association, Pittsburgh, PA

a great book for helping those who have parkinsons disease and others with disability 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I found this book helpful for helping a friend who has parkinsons and also my 85 year old mother, who only has aged-related physical disability. The movements are grounded in the theory behind Tai Chi and the Martial Arts, which is the gold-standard behind many other books dealing with body work.

Editorial Review:

Faced with an incurable and often debilitating illness, Parkinson's patients must relearn how to sit up in a chair, speak clearly, keep their balance while walking, and stand from a sitting position. Over 100 photographs illustrate exercises derived from yoga and t'ai chi techniques; and theater movement skills show readers how to cope as gracefully as possible with the loss of coordination that Parkinson's patients experience.

Awakenings

Oliver Sacks

Amazon Price: $10.85 List Price: $15.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Vintage Amazon Marketplace: 64 new & used starting at $4.84

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

It hardly seems fair that so many great doctors are also great writers. Perhaps it's qualities like sensitivity, craft, and dedication that keep physicians like Oliver Sacks in hospitals all day and at writing desks all night; if nothing else, these qualities shine in books like Awakenings. This powerful set of case histories rises above its pathological foundation to find new literary territory, a medical-spiritual synthesis equally stimulating for the mind and the soul. It's no wonder Hollywood producers chose to turn it into a feature film--anyone can see the universal human struggle against bondage and despair in these pages.

The sleeping-sickness epidemic of 1918 caused hundreds of survivors to slip into a bizarre rigid paralysis with similarities to advanced Parkinson's disease. These patients, only occasionally able to communicate or move, were nearly all institutionalized for life, their ranks increasing every now and then with similarly afflicted men and women. Sacks came to work at a long-term care facility shortly before the first exciting results with L-dopa and Parkinson's in the late 1960s; his patients soon embarked on dramatic, difficult recoveries from up to 50 years of torpor. He documents their spiritual and medical obstacles with great care to portray their individual personalities, long suppressed but finally released. Though many great doctors are also great writers, few can compare with Oliver Sacks for expressing the relation of medicine to the human spirit. --Rob Lightner

Lucky Man: A Memoir

Michael J. Fox

Amazon Price: $10.36 List Price: $12.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Hyperion Amazon Marketplace: 151 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 213 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The same sharp intelligence and self-deprecating wit that made Michael J. Fox a star in the Family Ties TV series and Back to the Future make this a lot punchier than the usual up-from-illness celebrity memoir. Yes, he begins with the first symptoms of Parkinson's disease, the incurable illness that led to his retirement from Spin City (and acting) in 2000. And yes, he assures us he is a better, happier person now than he was before he was diagnosed. In Fox's case, you actually might believe it, because he then cheerfully exposes the insecurities and self-indulgences of his pre-Parkinson's life in a manner that makes them not glamorous but wincingly ordinary and of course very funny. ("As for the question, 'Does it bother you that maybe she just wants to sleep with you because you're a celebrity?' My answer to that one was, 'Ah...nope.'") With a working-class Canadian background, Fox has an unusually detached perspective on the madness of mass-media fame; his description of the tabloid feeding frenzy surrounding his 1988 wedding to Tracy Pollan, for example, manages to be both acid and matter-of-fact. He is frank but not maudlin about his drinking problem, and he refreshingly notes that getting sober did not automatically solve all his other problems. This readable, witty autobiography reminds you why it was generally a pleasure to watch Fox onscreen: he's a nice guy with an edge, and you don't have to feel embarrassed about liking him. --Wendy Smith

Parkinson's Disease For Dummies (For Dummies (Health & Fitness))

Michele Tagliati, Gary Guten, Jo Horne

Amazon Price: $13.59 List Price: $19.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: For Dummies Amazon Marketplace: 48 new & used starting at $4.89

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease you’re probably wrestling with fear, despair, and countless questions about the future. It’s brighter than you think. In Parkinson’s Disease for Dummies, you’ll discover how to keep a positive attitude and lead an active, productive life as this user-friendly, guide pilots you through the important steps toward taking charge of your condition. It helps you:

• Make sure you have an accurate diagnosis
• Assemble and work with your health care team
• Inform others about your condition
• Choose the most effective medications
• Establish a diet and exercise regimen
• Consider surgical options, alternative therapies, and clinical trials
• Maintain healthy personal and professional relationships
• Adjust your routine as your PD progresses

This one-stop resource provides proven coping skills, first-hand advice, and practical tools, such as worksheets to assess care options, questions to ask doctors, and current listings of care providers.

Parkinson's Disease: 300 Tips for Making Life Easier

Shelley Peterman Schwarz

Amazon Price: $11.53 List Price: $16.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Demos Medical Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 38 new & used starting at $7.50

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease can be distressing, and adjusting to the effects of the disease is often difficult. This indispensable resource for patients, family, friends, and caregivers helps patients rise above PD’s challenges by working smarter, maintaining a positive outlook, and conserving time and energy. Organized by subject, the book covers a wide range of topics, including making the home more accessible; dressing aids and simple clothing adaptations; using technology to improve communication; eating and drinking tips for people with difficulty swallowing; mobility and exercise; managing home health care; cars and driving; leisure and recreational activities; travel; and much more. A resource section at the end of each chapter contains contact information for the agencies, organizations, and products mentioned. Completely revised and updated to include over 65 new tips and 40 additional resources, the book enables readers to become more independent and lead remarkably unlimited lives.

The First Year---Parkinson's Disease: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed

Jackie Hunt Christensen

Amazon Price: $10.85 List Price: $15.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Da Capo Press Amazon Marketplace: 36 new & used starting at $3.19

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Best book on the topic yet 5 out of 5 stars.
16 of 17 people found this review helpful.

As the wife of a 'new' Parkinson's patient (diagnosed last year) I've been going through the books on this subject like they were water. This is the first book that I've found that answered my questions and gave me a list of resources to go to. There are so many variables to this insidious disease, and trying to learn about it is hard work. This book has turned out to be an absolute gold mine for me.

Editorial Review:

Parkinson's disease—a chronic disorder that causes a progressive loss of nerve cell function in the part of the brain that controls muscle movement—is an incurable neurological condition with debilitating symptoms. Over 1.5 million Americans are affected, and the numbers continue to grow. From the first moment of her Parkinson's diagnosis, author Jackie Christensen took charge and educated herself on every aspect of her condition. Now, as a "patient-expert," she guides those newly diagnosed step by step through their first year with Parkinson's. She provides crucial information about the nature of the disease, treatment options, diet, exercise, charts and tables, social concerns, emotional issues, networking with others, and much more. The First Year—Parkinson's Disease will be an invaluable guide for all those who want to be an informed, active participant in the management of their condition.

The Parkinson's Disease Treatment Book: Partnering with Your Doctor to Get the Most from Your Medications

J. Eric Ahlskog

Amazon Price: $23.10 List Price: $35.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Oxford University Press, USA Amazon Marketplace: 36 new & used starting at $12.75

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Nearly one million Americans, including Michael J. Fox and Muhammad Ali, suffer from Parkinson's Disease. Now, a leader in the fight against Parkinson's, Dr. J. Eric Ahlskog of the Mayo Clinic, has written the definitive guide for patients and their families.
Dr. Ahlskog offers a crystal-clear, nuts-and-bolts approach to the treatment of PD, distilled from over twenty years of experience as a clinician and researcher. His goal is to educate the patient so that they can better team with their doctor to do battle with the disease, streamlining the decision-making process and enhancing their treatment. To do this, Dr. Ahlskog offers a gold mine of information: How do I know if I have PD? What kinds of tests can I take? What medications slow the progress of the disease? What if medications don't help my tremor? What kinds of movement problems may develop later? How can I cope with insomnia and daytime sleepiness, dizziness and depression, memory problems, paranoia, and delusions? Indeed, the book covers virtually every topic related to Parkinson's, from sexual impotence and skin rashes, to the role of nutrition, exercise, and physical therapy. In addition, Dr. Ahlskog discusses brain surgery (though he urges that patients only consider this as a last resort) and such experimental therapies as stem cell transplantation and gene therapy. There are also lists of support and advocacy groups and Internet sites that focus on Parkinson's.
The ultimate guide to symptoms and treatment, this superb book is the first place patients should turn for reliable, easy-to-grasp information on Parkinson's disease.