{"id":117963,"date":"2016-04-11T13:33:31","date_gmt":"2016-04-11T11:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/117963\/out-thinking-parkinsons-disease-gary-sharpes-story\/"},"modified":"2016-04-11T13:33:31","modified_gmt":"2016-04-11T11:33:31","slug":"out-thinking-parkinsons-disease-gary-sharpes-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/news-headlines\/2016\/04\/11\/out-thinking-parkinsons-disease-gary-sharpes-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Out-thinking Parkinsons Disease: Gary Sharpe\u2019s story"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gary Sharpe has been living with Parkinson\u2019s Disease for several years now in the UK and met his co-founder of Out-Thinking Parkinson’s<\/a>, Deb Helfrich, on LinkedIn in September 2015.<\/p>\n

Parkinson’s disease affects the way you move. It happens when there is a problem with certain nerve cells in the brain. Normally, these nerve cells make an important chemical called dopamine. Dopamine sends signals to the part of your brain that controls movement.<\/p>

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Together\u00a0Sharpe and Helfrich found hope through extensive research by\u00a0integrating their backgrounds into diverse areas such as\u00a0neuro-plasticity, diet, nutrition and to\u00a0digital recording and mainstream, alternative and complimentary therapies, amongst others.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis holistic knowledge synthesis, as applied directly to my own Parkinson’s Disease, quickly lead us to the conclusion that my current drug-centric therapy was inadequate and proposed surgical interventions were not appropriate at my current stage of progression,\u201d said Sharpe in a blog post<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

By January 2016, they were ready to test a series of hypotheses. They wanted to keep learning everything they could from the outcomes. This is how the video diary came about and the Out-Thinking Parkinson’s Project was born.<\/p>

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Sharpe highlights the importance of music, dance and boxing classes, as well as a holistic approach to overcoming his Parkinson’s.<\/p>\n

Take a look at some of Sharpe\u2019s videos highlighting his everyday life with Parkinson\u2019s Disease.<\/p>\n