Parkinson’s disease (PD) is chronic movement disorder that progresses and worsens as time goes by and affects over 10 million people worldwide. There is no cure for this debilitating condition and there aren’t any solid, specific conclusions as to what causes PD.¹ A few of the more notable personalities that have been challenged by PD are actor Michael J. Fox, singer Linda Ronstadt, and former Attorney General Janet Reno who succumbed to the disease in 2016. PD usually affects persons over 40 to seniors, but there are many cases of younger persons developing this disease as early as age six. Despite no cure, medicine and surgical procedures have been used to relieve some of the symptoms of PD which include: involuntary movement (tremors in limbs at rest), muscle stiffness, poor balance, trouble standing, impaired voice, anxiety, depression and dementia.² Another approach used to relieve some of the symptoms of PD is practicing aerobic and learning-based exercises.³

Exercise and Parkinson’s

Though research is ongoing, some promise has been shown in Parkinson’s patients who participate in both aerobic and learning-based exercises, and some doctors are prescribing exercise as a treatment to help with balance, posture, muscle stiffness, rhythmic movements, heart and lung function, and depression. Some aerobic exercises that are recommended can include walking, dancing, yoga, and classes that require shifts in movement, direction, and rotation. When it comes to learning-based exercises, it is really important to include exercises that challenge tempo, activity and direction, also known as “random practice” exercises.

Helen Kollias, PhD, a molecular exercise physiologist based in Toronto, notes in her article “Physical Activity and Parkinson’s Disease” that studies have found that people with PD who exercise have improved strength, cardiovascular fitness, balance, flexibility and gait.⁴ It is cautioned that starting an exercise program for those with PD depends on factors such as age and the progression of the disease. Before starting any new exercise regimen, PD patients should discuss the details with their physician. Once cleared by a doctor, the average exercise recommendation for those with PD is very similar to those without the disease, as long as they showing a heart rate at 70-80% maximum beats per minute. The age-based formula for calculating estimated maximum heartrate is 220 minus your age. Patients should strive for four to five times a week, exercising 30 to 40 minutes per session.³

“There is some very strong evidence, both anecdotal and researched (present in peer-reviewed journals), that shows exercise in general assists with symptoms and slowing progression of Parkinson’s Disease,” according to Yusuf Saleeby, MD, Founder and Director of Carolina Holistic (Priority Health, LLC), 20-year (retired) Emergency Medicine practitioner. “It is more difficult to show what types of exercise (aerobic vs. resistance training) is more effective, but there is a movement towards use of martial arts as a way to stave off the severity of the movement disorder,” notes Saleeby.

The Martial Arts Approach

As mentioned earlier, learning-based exercises, especially those considered “random practice” exercises can help PD patients with mobility, balance, posture, and help reduce muscle stiffness. Individuals with PD become more cognitively engaged with the practice and learning of movements and skills that were previously done automatically without thinking. Studies suggest that aerobic exercise, may have a role in the improvement of behavioral function in clients with PD. Exercises that incorporate goal-based training and aerobic activity have the potential to improve both cognitive and automatic components of motor control in individuals with mild to moderate PD through experience-dependent neuroplasticity, or creating normal behaviors through introduction of outside stimuli .⁹

Because the exercises in certain martial arts programs require shifts in tempo, direction and rotation, this may be just what the doctor ordered! “Vigorous and frequent exercise, such as non-contact kickboxing is encouraged among those with PD, especially the younger individuals as it has been shown to increase flexibility, increase mobility and decrease falls,” according to Saleeby. There is also evidence supporting that, in PD’s early stages clients can learn new motor skills. In a study, subjects with PD repeatedly practiced a series of rapid arm-reaching tasks with different levels of movement complexity over several days. Fast performance of sequential targeting tasks improved with practice in both groups and was retained over 48 hours.⁸

It is recommended, the PD clients exercise on a consistent basis. Those with PD enrolled in exercise programs longer than six months, regardless of intensity, have shown significant gains in functional balance and mobility as compared to programs of only two-week or 10-week durations.⁶

According to the stage your PD client is in, they may need assistance. Encourage them to bring a friend or family member along with them to work the martial arts class also. Working with a partner can be a motivational tool to help make working seem less like work and more fun. A partner can offer just the right amount of encouragement to someone who may feel less confident and more self-conscious.

It’s Not a New Concept

The idea that martial arts-related programs could help those with PD is not new by any means. Seventeen years ago, researchers at Emory and Georgia Tech studied the effects of Tai Chi and Qi Gong on Parkinson’s patients. The goal was to find out if these mind-body modalities can actually improve the quality of life of Parkinson’s sufferers by helping them “train their minds to train their bodies.”  Steven Wolf, professor of rehabilitation medicine at Emory, was the primary investigator in the 2001 study and concluded that PD patients performing Qi Gong showed improvement in gait and balance. In an earlier study in 1994, Wolf noted that older persons who took classes in Tai Chi had less falls. ⁷

Conclusion

It’s true that we have a long way to go when it comes to slowing the symptoms, and eventually finding a cure for the debilitating disease of Parkinson’s. But, it is encouraging to see studies that show that exercise can help and, that even exercise of a vigorous nature such as the short “rounds” of intense MMA-style moves found in some workouts can help relieve some of the symptoms of PD. Remember, not every person with PD is at the same level, and a doctor needs to chime in on the specific exercise needs of a client. Also, partnering up with someone who can offer support, encouragement and motivation, can be just what your client needs to help keep them focused and coming back to your classes for more!

References:

1. “What is Parkinson’s Disease?” http://www.pdf.org/about_pd
2. “Parkinson’s Disease,” https://www.gstatic.com/healthricherkp/pdf/parkinson_s_disease.pdf, Mayo Clinic.
3. Exercise and Therapy, http://pdcenter.neurology.ucsf.edu/patients-guide/exercise-and-physical-therapy
4. “Physical Activity and Parkinson’s Disease,” by Helen Kollias, PhD
5. “CORE DE FORCE” https://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/core-de-force-mma-workout.do#sm.0000lubiyl8l4e30101yc8rlct6fo.
6. “Neuroprotective Benefits of Exercise” http://www.parkinson.org/understanding-parkinsons/treatment/Exercise/Neuroprotective-Benefits-of-Exercise.
7. “Study: Can Martial Arts Help Whip Parkinson’s” https://www.emory.edu/EMORY_REPORT/erarchive/2001/December/erDec.3/12_03_01juncos.html.
8. “Striding Out With Parkinson Disease: Evidence-Based Physical Therapy for Gait Disorders” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2816030/.
9. “Exercise-enhanced neuroplasticity targeting motor and cognitive circuitry in Parkinson’s disease.” http://beelerlab.ws.gc.cuny.edu/files/2014/09/Petzinger2013-Lancet-Neurol.pdf.

Teenage Victim Of Online Bullying With Laptop

In between the videos of kitty playing piano and pictures of grandma blowing out candles on her 90^th birthday resides the darker side of social media; a place hiding in plain sight that is filled with gruesomeness, brutality, bullying and malicious intent. A place where privacy is non-existent, a tweet can get you killed, and terrorists lurk to attain new recruits.

Classroom Teasing Goes Viral

I remember being a high school freshman in an all-boys Catholic school in the 80s. I was a tiny, skinny, little kid that found himself pushed to the ground at times by the usual suspects of classroom bullies. Lucky for me, I was one of the quickest kids in school too and running was a better alternative to kissing a sidewalk. Surely there were moments when I wasn’t quick enough and found my pants pull down from behind, or a “Kick Me” note on my back. Embarrassing moments for sure with all my classmates laughing or my teacher standing in front of me, but, luckily,  I was able to shake it off and move on. Unfortunately, many kids aren’t able to move past the humiliation and, as a result find themselves depressed with low self-esteem, failing grades and not many friends.

Grim statistics show that not only has occurrences of bullying increased in recent years, but in many cases today, the reach of the bully extends far beyond school yards. In our new digital world, cyberbullying is the latest way for bullies to hurt kids with maximum impact. Now bullies not only say and do hurtful things to our kids in person, but they share these insults, humiliating pictures and videos on Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube, through e-mail and other social media outlets, magnifying them to immeasurable levels. Some bullies have gone so far as to creating websites dedicated to mocking other kids. It is an outlet that makes bullies feel powerful and in control. Cyberbullying targets a child’s life and social image. My incident of having my pants pulled down in front of 25 other kids would be looping on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Vine, possibly receiving thousands of views and shares. I can’t even imagine.

According to Cyberbullying Statistics:

• Over half of adolescents and teens have been bullied online, and about the same number have engaged in cyberbullying.
• More than 1 in 3 young people have experienced cyber-threats online.
• Over 25% of adolescents and teens have been bullied repeatedly through their cell phones or the Internet.
• Well over half of young people do not tell their parents when cyber bullying occurs.

According to the Cyberbullying Research Center, in a survey of 2,000 middle-school children from across the nation:

• 20% of respondents thought seriously about suicide
• 19% reported having attempted suicide
• Cyberbullying victims were 1.9 times more likely to attempt suicide than non-victims

Some of the Victims

• Matthew Burdette, 14, a student in San Diego took his own life after a student filmed him in the school bathroom stall. The film was posted on Vine and Snapchat.
• Jessica Laney, a 16-year-old from Pasco County, Florida, hanged herself after being bullied about her weight onfm.
• After being blackmailed on Skype, Daniel Perry, a 17-year-old from Scotland, jumped to his death from a local bridge. Daniel was harassed often on hisfm page, with commenters telling him to kill himself and that he should cut his throat. He was then tricked into Skyping with someone he was told was a girl his own age and then blackmailed him with screenshots by anonymous users.
• Viviana Aguirre, 14, of El Paso took her own life after countless bullying incidents on Facebook. Some of the messages suggested Viviana kill herself and even recommended ways she could do it.

Unfortunately, there are so many more examples of this. Now, personally, 30+ years ago when I was in high school I never heard ANY kid tell another kid they should kill themselves. This is very disturbing, not only that it’s happening, but that these calls for suicide are not just coming from individual bullies, but groups of them at once.

Warning Signs

Suspect that your child is being cyberbullied? Here are some warning signs according to stopbullying.gov. Kids who are being bullied tend to:

• Use alcohol and drugs
• Skip school
• Experience in-person bullying
• Be unwilling to attend school
• Receive poor grades
• Have lower self-esteem
• Have more health problems

Prevention

Communication is key when it comes to cyberbullying. It’s not only important to discuss daily with kids on how their day went at school, but it is equally important to discuss what they should do if they are bullied and advise them not to bully others. Also alert the school principle if your child reports any bullying incident to you. Some parents choose to monitor their child’s activities online and require their passwords to social media sites so they can view activity. Statistics show that 65% of children go online unsupervised!

The other unfortunate aspect of cyberbullying is that it is not only targeted to kids. There are many instances of adult cyberbullying as well. According to PEW research, 40% of adults have been victims of online bullying. Some of these stats include public figures and celebrities as well. During her TED talks, former presidential intern Monica Lewinsky was quoted as saying, “The more shame, the more clicks and the more clicks the more advertising dollars. We are making money off the back of suffering.” On April 3, 2015, Kevin Bollaert was convicted and sentenced to 18 years in prison for his ‘revenge porn’ website. Bollaert posted over 10,000 nude photos of women sent in by ex-lovers and then charged the victims money to remove the photos.

You can report cyberbullying at www.stopbullying.gov or

http://www.endcyberbullying .com and also take these steps immediately:

• Don’t respond to and don’t forward cyberbullying messages.
• Keep evidence of cyberbullying. Record the dates, times, and descriptions of instances when cyberbullying has occurred. Save and print screenshots, emails, and text messages.
• Block the person who is cyberbullying.

Stay tuned for more articles to come on cyberbullying as well as other topics from The Dark Side of Social Media.

Bio: Kevin McGuire is a freelance journalist based in Los Angeles. Look for his his latest articles and insight on how social media is impacting our world at http://www.SocialMediaAtoZ.com -coming soon!

References:

http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/bullying-and-suicide.html

http://www.stoptechnobullying.org/statistics.php

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2691838/Student-14-committed-suicide-classmate-secretly-filmed-touching-bathroom-spreading-school.html

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/a-ninth-teenager-since-last-september-has-committed-suicide

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_24895008/activist-lawmakers-battle-increasing-threat-cyberbullying

https://nobullying.com/bullying-statistics/

It’s our own fault, but now what? 

Has anyone heard the story of the Frog and Boiling Water?

The premise is that if a frog is placed in boiling water, it will jump out, but if it is placed in cold water that is slowly heated, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death.¹

This leads me to a question. If Facebook had told users upfront that they would pretty much give up their privacy and have their every move tracked, how many of their 1.23 billion active users would have initially signed up?

They didn’t do that of course. What they did do is gradually make changes over time to capitalize on how they can benefit from your information. They know when and how often you check Facebook. They know your age, gender, birthday, where you went to school, where you work, who your friends and family are, what your likes and dislikes are and, in some cases, even your phone number. They know this why?  Because we gave it to them. And with features such as tagging, checking-in and messenger, users are obliging to give up even more of their privacy for the sake of being social. As a result, Facebook knows when you are home or not home. With a simple click of the “like” button, Facebook can track your interests and target you with specific ads that might be of interest to you. They have even been accused of tracking you even when you leave Facebook to view other websites, though they deny this.

Ever start writing a post and you say to yourself, “I better not” and delete the text because you thought it might offend or embarrass someone? That so-called “deleted post” may still exist! According to an article published on SLATE.com, “To collect the text you type, Facebook sends code to your browser. That code automatically analyzes what you type into any text box and reports metadata back to Facebook.”² Facebook calls these types of non-posts “self-censorship” posts and collects this data. How do they use it? It’s all right here: (http://www.aaai.org/ocs/index.php/ICWSM/ICWSM13/paper/viewFile/6093/6350)

Private message anyone? A Salon.com article talks about a bug that allowed private messages to become public on the Facebook Wall.³ A poor college student had his “I can’t believe we made out” message posted for ALL to see. Though Facebook denied this was the case, this wasn’t the only instance of private messages being posted publicly reported⁴

Maybe the most well-known infringement on privacy form Facebook came when an experiment was conducted “in which researchers temporarily tweaked the contents of nearly 700,000 [Facebook] users’ news feeds—without their knowledge —to test their emotional response to seeing more positive or negative news from friends.”⁵

Speaking of friends, are any of them hiding from a former lover and calling themselves “Bob Smith?” One of the most recent Facebook battles involved the company wanting to implement a “Real Name” policy. Drag Queens, who didn’t want their true identity known, protested and claimed discrimination. They may have just won, according to sflist.com.⁶

The last point: Once you are on Facebook, there is NO leaving…really.

Sure, WikiHow can give you the 11-Step Process to “Permanently” delete your Facebook account, so they say.⁷ But after reading everything I’ve stated above, do you REALLY believe Facebook permanently deletes anything?

On top of that, if you are like me, you feel stuck. You believe Facebook is your ONLY true connection to family and friends. In other words, they’ve got you right where they want you… IN HOT WATER (boiling). I’m sure that’s not how you felt when you got inJ.

Note: I loved the frog metaphor, but can’t take full credit. Behavioral economist Alessandro Acquisti, a professor of information technology and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University used this same metaphor during a talk on the TED stage. You can hear that talk on the TED Radio Hour Podcast. The talk discusses: facial recognition software that can connect an anonymous human face to an online name, and a Facebook account in about 3 seconds. ~ scary!

References:

1. Wikipedia “Boiling Frog” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog
2. Slate – “On Second Thought…Facebook wants to know why you didn’t publish that status update you started writing.” http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2013/12/facebook_self_censorship_what_happens_to_the_posts_you_don_t_publish.html
3. Salon- “Facebook released my messages from college” http://www.salon.com/2013/12/15/facebook_outed_my_private_messages_from_college_partner/
4. Huffington Post – “Facebook Bug Exposing Users’ Private Messages On Timeline? New Glitch Reportedly Spotted (PICTURE)” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/24/facebook-bug-private-messages-timeline_n_1909813.html
5. Mercury News- “Facebook runs into uproar over experiment that tested emotional reactions” http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_26064438/facebook-runs-into-uproar-over-experiment-that-tested
6. SFlist- “BREAKING: Facebook Issues Mea Culpa To Drag Queens And Others Over ‘Real Name’ Policy [Updated]” http://sfist.com/2014/10/01/facebook_apparently_backing_down_fr.php
7. WikiHow- “How to Permanently Delete a Facebook Account” http://www.wikihow.com/Permanently-Delete-a-Facebook-Account

Shared content can help spread the word just fine

By Kevin McGuire

Ah, remember the good ol’ days when it didn’t matter whether you were a small or large business on Facebook? Back when content reach was limitless, the playing field was level, and bringing in new business was just a matter of using clever words, eye catching photos and fun contests? Well, unfortunately, those days are over, as Facebook, and other social media giants, have lured enough users into their “first one’s free (sucker)” tangled web, and returned us to the competitive “bloody ocean” where only those with mucho cashola get to reach potential customers through the new pay-to-play promotional posts.

So what’s a small business to do? Certainly, there are other ways to reach potential customers without paying? Right? Right.

There are always creative ways to get around these new pay-to-play formats. Here are a few.

On Facebook, Sharing is Caring

Sure you can pay for reach, or your current followers can reach for you. Sharable content is a valuable commodity on Facebook and there are certain approaches that work and others that don’t work. Unfortunately, one of the least shared types of posts are those directly promoting your business. Ouch! These types of posts are a turn off in most cases. And even if your current followers love the offer, they may just opt to give you like instead of a share as they don’t want to appear as they are advertising to their own followers.

One thing that does work when it comes to sharing is informative and interesting content. Content that your followers would love to pass along, and along, and along. For example, say you work for a coffee company; most likely the majority of your followers have already used your product and liked it enough to follow you. Now you want to reach more potential customers. Posting a comment such as “Try our new dark roast ground coffee and get 10 % off your next purchase,” may get some likes among current followers, but most likely won’t get many shares. Now imagine posting the photo below with a fun fact, such as: A Harvard study showed that people who regularly drank coffee actually had a somewhat lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease than those who rarely drank coffee.

Believe me, your coffee-loving followers will share this interesting info with their followers, and so on and so forth.

Try Infographics

Another type of post with usually a high share rate is one containing an infographic. An infographic brings together creative graphics and statistics to present sharable information in a fun way. For example, what goes great with a cup of coffee? How about a slice of pie? Here is an infographic from CouponCabin.com featuring the most popular types of pies at Thanksgiving.

You can create an infographics, such as this one, pretty simple and reach more potential customers through sharing. There are some free programs such as www.piktochart.com and www.visualize.me you can use to create your infographic, or you can use programs such as  Photoshop as well.

And keep in mind, there is no shame in asking your audience to share your posts. You can also refer them to a Pinterest page for a retrospective of all the fun facts and infographics you have posted about your brand or service. Remember, post and post often! At least twice a day (10 a.m. and 3 p.m. they sayJ). Stay tuned for tips on how to avoid pay-to-play on Twitter as well. Until then, take care!

Kevin McGuire is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer. He received a B.A. in journalism from Rowan University in New Jersey and is the Social Media Manager for AFAA (Aerobics and Fitness Association of America). He is also the Managing Editor of American Fitness magazine (www.americanfitness.squarespace.com) based in Sherman Oaks, CA. He often tweets the latest headlines in the world of social media @followmcg and expands into other topics such as celebrity profiles, the trials of everyday life and the forthcoming zombie apocalypse on his blog at www.kevinmcguirewriter.com. He can be reached at mcgurk1266@gmail.com.