From the day of diagnosis of PD onward, a patient must respect the disease process, because Parkinson’s ultimately has the upper hand. But there are 8,760 hours in a year, and Neurologist visits for the year may total less than two hours, so patients would do well to realize that during the other 8,758 hours, they have some ability to take charge of their health, fighting back sensibly, subsequently improving their symptoms, possibly slowing their own disease process, and maybe even (to some extent) re-wiring their brains. Patients should be encouraged to be proactive in their own health.

The Parkinson’s Pyramid® is an empowering health strategy, not a specific program. It is the strategy I developed to take charge of my own health, and which seems to be working. The Parkinson’s Pyramid® is a take-off on the food pyramid, and can be used by PD and other patients living with neurodegenerative disease to take charge of their own health, with the goals of:

• Increasing Quality of Life
• Helping patients feel like they are fighting back
• Optimistically raising the chances that an individual patient will be better functioning a year from now (which is counter to conventional teaching about neurodegenerative diseases).