Punished as a child for being left-handed

[robjohn]

I have been diagnosed by a general neurologist mainly on the basis of left-hand tremors. I am wondering if the tremors could be caused by being punished as a child for being left-handed until I changed hands. I have been told it probably caused me to stutter and be clumsy.

[kaypeeoh]

I'm a leftie and have a leftie tremor. My dad was a leftie but the army forced him to become a rightie. It didn't cause him problems over the years.

[Trixiedee]

Forcing a left handed child to be right handed does cause a stutter but I think it’s unlikely to cause Parkinson’s.

[WinnieThePoo]

Parkinsons disease is idiopathic - which means "nobody knows" what caused it. Still I think all of us look for something to blame or explain. I blamed Amlodopine, then a serious Eustachean tube problem, and the treatment with a nebuliser of antibiotics and steroids. Then the neurologist on the SPARK trial showed me my Datscans, and explained how based on the progress since diagnosis, they plot back the curve to the start of the disease, which is 10 or more years earlier than either of those events.

[rescuema in reply to WinnieThePoo]

"they plot back the curve to the start of the disease, which is 10 or more years earlier than either of those events."

Interesting...but I wonder how accurate that estimation is. It seems to indicate the assessment is based on an assumption that DaTscan accurately predicts the rate of progression on a timeline. I'm not so sure.

Take a look at the before/after NAC treatment DaTscan images on the below article only after 90 days. It's something to think about.

scienceofparkinsons.com/201...

[Hikoi in reply to rescuema]

I have always been told that PD probably started 10 years or more before diagnosis, some say 20 years. I think that has predated regular use of DatScans but not sure,( we dont have them in my country). Most recently I have read that they think young onset PD people may have had it all their lives ie genetic. I definitely know I had signs 8 years pre diagnosis (not things like I have read that could be due to anything , like trouble throwing a ball either!).

Fascinated by your link rescuema. I like the Sopd site.

[ParlePark in reply to Hikoi]

It is an awesome site. How can any one (1) person do that much work and convey so beautifully amazes me.

[rescuema in reply to Hikoi]

I was just listening to the podcast of about Joy Milne, the women who could smell PD, along with other diseases. She noticed that her husband's body odor (musty yeasty) and his personally started changing when he was only 31 years old, and later got diagnosed at 45. Fascinating! Even if DatScan isn't a good predictor, perhaps a machine could be developed for an early diagnosis for prevention (identify the trigger such as genetic SNPs, toxin, etc. for oxidative stress) in the future.

healthunlocked.com/parkinso...

[Hikoi in reply to rescuema]

We have to have a biomarker before we can have a machine to diagnose PD.

[MBAnderson]

I'm more interested in which parent initiated that? And, how do you feel now about being punished for some thing you were born with? Isn't that rather like being punished for having brown hair?

[OREOLU]

Which ever parent initiated that,it is very wrong.Nowadays,it is child abuse to punish a child for something which is no fault of his. I remember when I was a kid,my strict Dad would hit and punish me for playing outdoor with the neighborhood kids,whenever he finds me outdoor,after arriving from work. During,one of the abuse he hit me with a doubled 4 inches thick electric cable,and injured my right eye,which is now comprised as an adult.All my Mom could do was to plead for me.My primary doctor,even said the trauma might have caused my PD,as I have no family history of PD.

[rebtar]

My dad was born a leftie and forced to use his right hand. He both stuttered and developed PD. I, however, was always a rightie, and also developed PD. Who knows what goes on in our brains...

[GoingtoWin]

My husband is right handed and never had left hand tendencies so not traumatized in that way, but his PD started with his left hand. And that was pretty much his only visible PD trait for the first 4 or so years.... Then about 2 years ago the tremors moved to his right hand and he now has tremor in both but more in his right hand. He has now had PD for about 10 years if you only count visible traits. He was officially diagnosed about 6 years ago.