Bowie, Prince George's County, Maryland Parkinson's Support Group [Bowie PSG]

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This site offers resources and links for the Parkinson's disease (PD) support group which meets at the Bowie, Prince George's Co, MD Senior Center [link opens in new window].

[NOTE: The group often appears on these pages using the nickname Bowie PSG.]

This is the online resource notebook of the Bowie, MD Parkinson's Disease Support Group (Bowie PSG) established in Jan 2007 and located in Bowie, Prince George's County, Maryland.

Currently the group holds monthly meetings at 10 am on the fourth Monday of each month in the Bowie Senior Center [Bowie, Prince George's Co, MD].

Join us! Caregivers and interested adult family members are welcome, too!

Meet with others whose families are living with PD. Share any PD news or present concerns you may have. We have a strong, supportive group full of ideas and resources. 

 

You can begin to get to know us by BROWSING OUR WEBSITE: 

Use the links on each page's sidebar to navigate through the resource pages. Some are located on our website, and some link to external sites.


Disclaimer: None of our website's text or links should be regarded as the Bowie PSG or the Bowie Senior Center's endorsement of any particular speaker, institution, treatment, product, or so forth. Our Support Group is neither a commercial or medical entity. All of the links on this site are provided strictly for personal researchy purposes.

If you are concerned about your  health, contact your healthcare provider's office.


Please write (see bottom of page) if you find a link that doesn't work or if you've found a great resource you'd like to see added.


Quick Parkinson's Disease Glossary

(courtesy of NIH |original source page link| ):



  • anticholinergic drugs — drugs that interfere with production or uptake of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.
  • akinesia — trouble initiating or carrying out movements.
  • bradykinesia — gradual loss of spontaneous movement.
  • corpus striatum — a part of the brain that helps regulate motor activities.
  • deep brain stimulation — a treatment that uses an electrode implanted into part of the brain to stimulate it in a way that temporarily inactivates some of the signals it produces.
  • dementia — loss of intellectual abilities.
  • dopamine — a chemical messenger, deficient in the brains of PD patients, that transmits impulses from one nerve cell to another.
  • dyskinesias — abnormal involuntary twisting and writhing movements that can result from long-term use of high doses of levodopa.
  • dysphagia — difficulty swallowing.
  • festination — a symptom characterized by small, quick, forward steps.
  • myoclonus — muscular jerks.
  • on-off effect — a change in the patient's condition, with sometimes rapid fluctuations between uncontrolled movements and normal movement, usually occurring after long-term use of levodopa and probably caused by changes in the ability to respond to this drug.
  • orthostatic hypotension — a sudden drop in blood pressure when a person stands up from a lying-down position. It may cause dizziness, lightheadedness, and, in extreme cases, loss of balance or fainting.
  • pallidotomy — a surgical procedure in which a part of the brain called the globus pallidus is lesioned in order to improve symptoms of tremor, rigidity, and bradykinesia.
  • parkinsonian gait — a characteristic way of walking that includes a tendency to lean forward; small, quick steps as if hurrying forward (called festination); and reduced swinging of the arms.
  • parkinsonism — a term referring to a group of conditions that are characterized by four typical symptoms—tremor, rigidity, postural instability, and bradykinesia.
  • "Parkinson's-plus" — a group of diseases that includes corticobasal degeneration, progressive supranuclear palsy, and multiple system atrophy. These diseases cause symptoms like those of PD in addition to other symptoms.
  • postural instability — impaired balance that causes a tendency to lean forward or backward and to fall easily.
  • rigidity — a symptom of the disease in which muscles feel stiff and display resistance to movement even when another person tries to move the affected part of the body, such as an arm.
  • secondary parkinsonism — any condition with symptoms that resemble those of PD but which result from other causes.
  • substantia nigra — movement-control center in the brain where loss of dopamine-producing nerve cells triggers the symptoms of PD; substantia nigra means "black substance," so called because the cells in this area are dark.
  • thalamotomy — a procedure in which a portion of the brain's thalamus is surgically destroyed, usually reducing tremors.
  • tremor — shakiness or trembling, often in a hand, which in PD is usually most apparent when the affected part is at rest.
  • wearing-off effect — the tendency, following long-term levodopa treatment, for each dose of the drug to be effective for shorter and shorter periods.

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NAVIGATION:

Research & Support, Local (Bowie, MD Area):

  • Local medical support & research links
  • Pain Management logs, inspiration, etc |link|
  • Bowie, Prince George's Co, MD Senior Center website [external site]
  • Bowie Senior Center Event Calendar
  • Bowie Senior Center Newsletter (pdf  format)

National Groups, Research, Support, Publications :

  • Support & research links page (this site)
  • Parkinson's Disease free publications (links on this site)
  • Download APDA's great pdf EXERCISE Booklet (must supply personal data first) |external link|
  • Adaptive technologies |link| - tips; shopping links, & more




This page was updated 18 Jun  2010.