Going Backward, Moving Forward

I’ve added backward walking to my exercise routine.

“Retro walking,” as the cool kids call it, doesn’t have a lot of clinical research behind it (ahem), but many medical professionals and trainers say it can reduce joint pain and tightness, improve posture and balance, and enhance proprioception — the ability to sense where we are in space.

I am also hoping for better-looking glutes.

Dealing with Parkinson’s we are constantly moving backward or forward. On the research and treatment front, there are recent examples of each:

Forward: Scientists have identified a molecule in the brain — ophthalmic acid — that “unexpectedly acts like a neurotransmitter similar to dopamine in regulating motor function, offering a new therapeutic target for Parkinson’s and other movement diseases.”

For the past 60 years, dopamine had been considered the only neurotransmitter affecting motor function control. This discovery offers the possibility of credible alternatives to Levadopa in treating Parkinson’s symptoms. We’re years away from being able to pick up a bottle of opthalmic acid at our local CVS, but the possiblities are exciting.

Backward: An investigation by Science Magazine alleges that Eliezer Masliah, the erstwhile head of the National Institute on Aging’s Division of Neuroscience, falsified images in as many as 132 research papers published between 1997 and 2023. These papers, says Science, “underpin the development and testing of experimental drugs” for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

It is possible that millions of research dollars have been invested in studies based on bullshit. I am not pleased.

Forward: The Oregon Department of Agriculture has banned most uses of the pesticide chlorpyrifos, which has been linked to Parkinson’s and other neurological ailments.

The chemical has been widely used in homes and on farms to control insects on a wide variety of ornamental plants and food and feed crops. In Oregon, it’s been used on Christmas trees, alfalfa and some crop seeds.

California, Hawaii, Maryland and New York have also banned or restricted the chemical’s use.

Backward: The California legislature considered a bill banning the use of paraquat — another pesticide linked to Parkinson’s. Instead, they kicked the can down the road, passing a law requiring regulators to re-evaulate the chemical in five years.

Forward: A new form of adaptive deep brain stimulation is in development, and was the subject of a recent New York Times article , which called it “a personalized brain pacemaker for Parkinson’s.”

According to the Parkinson’s Foundation:

Utilizing custom computer algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI), adaptive DBS can detect symptom changes in real time by monitoring brain activity that is specific to each participant. When it detects changes, the system delivers precisely calibrated electrical pulses to counteract these shifts.

The system delivers more electrical stimulation during periods of stiffness (bradykinesia) and less during phases of involuntary movement (dyskinesia). It also adjusts stimulation based on the effectiveness of levodopa medication, providing more stimulation when the medication wears off and less when it’s active.

So far, the technology has only been tested on four people, and we are years away from wide availability. But as the search for a cause and cure proceeds in other studies, tools to make our lives better in the meantime are also improving.

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In our battles with Parkinson’s — scientific, political, and personal — sometimes we advance, and sometimes we retreat.

Three days a week, I start and end my treadmill workout backward for five minutes each, at slow speed. I’ve also walked in reverse a few times on the track at Grant High in Portland.

The reception to this by the Grant High community has been mixed. But I’m willing to go backward to move forward.

BONUS FOR THOSE WHO READ TO THE BOTTOM
Bob Marley and Baseball Edition

One measure of a songwriter’s skill is the number of different genres that can produce credible covers. With that criteria, Bob Marley ranks near the top. Here are three very different ways other artists have re-done Marley’s work:

Kacey Musgraves turns “Three Little Birds” into a relaxed piece of folk-rock.

The name of this band is Carolina Bluegrass Style. While their rendition of “I Shot the Sheriff” isn’t bluegrass, exactly, it does make very nice use of banjo and fiddle.

Charlie Hunter Quartet with a smoky jazz take on “Lively Up Yourself.”

I worked for the New York Mets from 1986 through 1994. During my tenure, Howie Rose was a colleague, hosting a postgame show called “Mets Extra.” He became the team’s radio play-by-play voice in 1995. He bleeds Mets orange and blue.

Last week during a Mets-Brewers playoff game in Milwaukie, Pete Alonso came up in the ninth inning of an elimination game. There were two men on base, and the Mets were down 2-0. Winner advances, loser goes home. The Mets were two outs away from a long winter.

Below you will find Rose’s call of the at-bat (spoiler alert: Alonso hit a dramatic three-run homer). It is two minutes and 39 seconds of absolute perfection. A case can be made that this is the best baseball radio call of all time.

YouTube has a version of this synced up to the video, but the way to hear this is the way his listeners experienced it — with no pictures. Click on the “play” arrow below.