Parkinson's Awareness Month: 30 Days-30 Stories/Day Four-Sex, Music and Dopamine
Let's keep it simple. Parkinson's Disease results from the death of dopamine generating cells in the brain.
There was a study done in Canada that shows that sex and music produces dopamine.
Sounds simple, doesn't it? Sex and music can make up for the lost dopamine. Not so fast!
I'll talk about music and music therapy over the weekend. Let's chat about sex. It always comes back to that!
First off, some of the physical symptoms of PD, such as muscle stiffness and slowness of movement makes the physical act of sex more difficult. Then you have the balance issues...use your imagination.
Next you have the emotional impact of having Parkinson's. It wears you down. Leads to stress and depression. All that lowers your sex drive.
More good news...arousal problems come along. Sometimes it's because of the emotional issues. Sometimes it's a side effect from the Parkinson's meds. Don't worry, you can get another pill for help. Sigh.
By the way, all the things I mentioned affect both men and women.
There is one side effect from a Parkinson's med that does increase your sex drive. However, it increases it so much that it becomes obsessive.
It's a hell of a lot of work to get a little dopamine. It's a hell of a disease.
Tomorrow: Mickey Hart, Percussion and the Brain