​​(Stress Part II, has been delayed (Lao Du is sleeping)

     Exercise is a crucial component of a Parkinson’s treatment program.  It’s not an option – it’s  a MUST.  Keeping fit  by working out  promotes neuroplasticity and is as important as the pharmacological regimen. Remember, too, that Parkinson’s disease is a progressive disease.  It gets worse in the long term leading to a range of disabilities, including (potentially) immobility – falling is an especially treacherous and hazardous risk – and cognitive deterioration. This is where the exercise therapy comes in.  It can (and does) prevent the progression of the illness.  It can prevent falling.  It can improve quality of life.

​​    Hey, pal, you say you were just rammed by a cruise ship while sailing your little 20 foot sloop offshore, and now you’re cold and wet because there’s a hole the size of a watermelon at the bow below the waterline … and the water is coming into your cabin like Niagara Falls … and you’re suddenly sinking 25 miles from land … and your new 300 dollar, waterproof,  reconditioned, bargain radio telephone that you just bought on sale last week is wet and not working so you can’t contact the Coast Guard or the captain of the 100,000 ton vessel that just ran you over … and you say you can’t sail anymore because you’re mast and sails are all  gone and your Honda 20 hp outboard was just ripped off your transom and is  now plunging towards the abyss … and you say there’s a fish swimming right next to your belly button and the only parts of you that are not  underwater are above your nose?  Is that what’s troubling you, Bunky?

​​     I think every kid in Flushing in the mid 1950’s knew that it was Leo Durocher, the manager of the NY (baseball) Giants, who said “Nice guys finish last.”   It was common knowledge that he said that, and it was also  implicitly understood that this  proposition was undisputable. Yeah, Leo the Lip said it, and Leo had just brought his team a baseball World Series championship in 1954, so it was taken as gospel truth.  To  buttress this  Durocher doctrine, along comes Vince Lombardi a few years later who said (it’s attributed to him, at least) that Winning isn’t everything – it’s the only thing!