- WELL, I WAS DRAFTED INTO THE MILITARY IN 1966.
I SPENT THE FIRST YEAR IN THE STATES,
AND FROM THERE, I WAS SENT TO VIETNAM.
I WAS IN VIETNAM FOR A YEAR, AND I GOT OUT IN 1968.
- MR. PERDIEU IS A VERY NICE GENTLEMAN
THAT'S BEEN FOLLOWED BY THE CLINIC HERE
FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, AND AT HIS LAST VISIT,
HE HAD COMPLAINED ABOUT SOME MILD VISUAL COMPLAINTS
THAT HAD JUST STARTED HAPPENING OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS.
- I PLAYED A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF GOLF.
I COULD ALWAYS HIT IT.
I NEVER COULD SCORE SO WELL, BUT I COULD KNOCK IT OUT OF SIGHT,
BUT I COULD FIND IT.
I GOT TO THE POINT WHERE I DIDN'T KNOW WHERE THE BALL WAS,
AND THAT WAS MY FIRST SYMPTOM
THAT SOMETHING WAS GOING WRONG WITH MY EYES.
- SO IN A HEALTHY EYE, IT'S JUST INCREDIBLY STABLE.
SO WHEN YOU'RE FIXATING, YOU'RE LOOKING AT A TARGET,
YOUR EYE IS ESSENTIALLY NOT MOVING.
- KEEP YOUR EYEBALL STRAIGHT ALL THE WAY UP.
- THE PARKINSON PATIENTS, ACTUALLY, NOT ONLY IS IT MOVING,
BUT IT'S OSCILLATING..
SO THEY HAVE THESE RHYTHMICAL MOVEMENTS
THAT ARE JUST LIKE THE TREMOR IN THE ARM.
- BASICALLY, EVERY PATIENT WITH PARKINSON'S DISEASE
HAS A VERY FINE AMPLITUDE TREMOR IN THEIR EYES,
AND IT FUNCTIONALLY SMEARS THE IMAGE ON THE BACK OF THE RETINA,
CAUSING BLURRING OF VISION,
ESPECIALLY IN LOW-CONTRAST SITUATIONS.
WE'RE GONNA SLIP THIS UP ON YOUR HEAD.
SO WE RECORDED MR. PERDIEU'S EYE MOVEMENTS AND FOUND
THAT HE HAS AN ACTUALLY FAIRLY MODERATELY SIZED TREMOR,
LITTLE BIT LARGER THAN AVERAGE AND JUST ABOVE THE THRESHOLD
OF WHAT WE WOULD EXPECT TO BEGIN AFFECTING YOUR VISION.
A GOOD ANALOGY OF WHAT HAPPENS WITH THESE EYE MOVEMENTS
IN PARKINSON'S, IF THE EYE IS SHAKING BACK AND FORTH--
VERY, VERY SMALL AMPLITUDE BUT RELATIVELY QUICKLY--
IT'S JUST LIKE IF YOU'RE TAKING A PICTURE
BUT MOVE THE CAMERA WHILE YOU HIT THE SHUTTER.
YOU'RE BASICALLY SMEARING THE IMAGE ON THE FILM.
YOUR RETINA WORKS IN VERY MUCH THE SAME WAY.
- WHEN I TRY TO READ,
WHAT I NOTICE THAT'S DIFFERENT NOW
IS THAT IN A VERY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME,
THE LINES ON THE PAPER BECOME BLURRED.
I CERTAINLY DON'T READ ANYWHERE NEAR AS MUCH AS I USED TO, OK,
AND TRYING TO READ NOW SEEMS TO PUT STRESS ON YOUR BODY,
AND I DON'T THINK STRESS AND PARKINSON'S
GO VERY WELL TOGETHER.
- IN MR. PERDIEU'S CASE, CORRECTIVE LENSES
DON'T REALLY OF AFFECT HIS VISION AT ALL
BECAUSE IT'S NOT PROBLEMS WITH HIS EYES.
IT'S A PROBLEM WITH HIS EYE MOVEMENTS,
AND WHAT'S ACTUALLY HAPPENING IS THAT THE EYE IS SHAKING
BACK AND FORTH AND SMEARING THE IMAGE ON THE BACK OF HIS RETINA.
SO, NO MATTER WHAT TYPE OF GLASSES YOU HAVE,
NOTHING IS GOING TO FIX THAT MOVEMENT.
THAT'S WHAT'S CAUSING THE PROBLEM.
- WHEN I TAKE MY MEDICATION, I CAN ALWAYS TELL
THAT IT HAS IMPACTED ME IN EVERY AREA.
- WHEN WE SEE PATIENTS WHO ARE NOT ON THEIR MEDICINE
AND THEN THEY TAKE THEIR MEDICINE,
WHAT WE SEE IS THE AMPLITUDE,
THE SIZE OF THAT OSCILLATION, IS REDUCED.
- AND WE HAVE FOUND THAT AFTER THE MEDICATION,
THERE IS A REDUCTION OF BETWEEN 75% TO 90%
OF THE OSCILLATION GOING BACK AND FORTH.
- WHEN I TAKE MY MEDICATION, MY VISION IS GOOD ENOUGH
FOR ME TO SEE AND GO AND DO ANYTHING THAT I WANT TO DO.
- SO WHEN I TOLD YOU THAT YOU LOOK AT YOUR THUMB...
ONE MORE THING I ALWAYS TALK ABOUT
IS THE EXERCISE OF THE EYEBALL.
NOW, THINK ABOUT IT.
WE ARE VERY GOOD AT EXERCISE RIGHT?
WE GO TO THE GYM. WE WALK.
WE DON'T DO ANYTHING FOR THE EYE MUSCLES.
SO THAT IS ANOTHER VERY IMPORTANT THING,
FOR THE EYE MUSCLE TO EXERCISE.
- I DO HAVE EYE EXERCISES
THAT WERE GIVEN TO ME SPECIFICALLY BY DR. Q.,
AND THOSE EXERCISE INVOLVE LOOKING AT YOUR THUMBNAIL
AND PULLING IT BACK AND GETTING IT CLOSE TO YOUR NOSE.
IT INVOLVES PUTTING YOUR ARM AND PUTTING YOUR FINGER UP
AND TOUCHING YOUR NOSE WITH IT.
- YOU HAVE TO DO YOUR EXERCISE FOR YOUR EYES AND FOR BRAIN.
BRAIN EXERCISE IS WHAT? READING.
EVERY DAY READ SOMETHING, AND THAT WILL KEEP YOU GOING.
- WE BELIEVE THAT WE CAN USE THIS
TO PREDICT PARKINSON'S DISEASE IN PRECLINICAL STATES,
POSSIBLY 10 TO 15 YEARS BEFORE YOU SHOW ANY SYMPTOMS AT ALL.
ALL THAT I WANT YOU TO DO IS FOLLOW THAT DOT
WITH YOUR EYES THE BEST YOU CAN.
BY THE TIME YOUR SYMPTOMS ARE MANIFESTING OUTWARDLY,
YOU'VE ALREADY LOST APPROXIMATELY 70% OF THE CELLS
THAT PRODUCING DOPAMINE TO YOUR BRAIN.
WE BELIEVE THAT THE EYE TREMOR MAY BE PRESENT
LONG, LONG BEFORE THAT.
- WE'VE ACTUALLY IDENTIFIED OCULAR TREMOR
IN ESSENTIALLY EVERY PATIENT WHO HAS PARKINSON'S DISEASE.
- IF YOU COULD, FOLLOW THIS DOT FOR ME, PLEASE, SIR.
SO BASICALLY, WE CAN TAKE A SPECIFIC TYPE OF EYE MOVEMENT
ABNORMALITY AND MAP THAT BACK TO A SPECIFIC PART OF THE BRAIN
WHICH WE WOULD EXPECT TO BE ABNORMAL
IN A CERTAIN TYPE OF DISORDER.
SO IT'S ACTUALLY A VERY ACCURATE TOOL IN DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSES
BETWEEN DIFFERENT MOVEMENT DISORDERS,
SOME OF THEM EVEN BEFORE THEY MANIFEST SYMPTOMS OUTWARDLY.
- ETTA AND I SPEND AN AWFUL LOT OF TIME IN THIS YARD.
ETTA HAS CERTAINLY DONE A MARVELOUS JOB OF LANDSCAPING
AND TAKING A FAIRLY ROUGH-LOOKING YARD
AND MAKING SOMETHING THAT'S HIGHLY DESIRABLE OUT OF IT.
I WOULD SUGGEST THAT HAVING A WONDERFUL WOMAN IN YOUR LIFE
IS WORTH ANY MAN'S TIME.
SHE WAS MY HIGH-SCHOOL SWEETHEART.
SHE RAN OFF AND LEFT ME AND WENT TO COLLEGE
AND LEFT ME IN A OLD PODUNK TOWN,
IN 50 YEARS LATER, WE'RE BACK TOGETHER.
- IF YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE QUALITY OF LIFE,
I'M GOING TO HAVE TO SUPPORT HIM BECAUSE MY LIFE IS OK.
SO IF WE'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO DO ANYTHING TOGETHER,
I HAVE TO LOOK TO HIM TO SEE WHAT HE NEEDS.
OTHERWISE, IT WON'T BE NICE FOR EITHER ONE OF US.
- SHE IS A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF MY LIFE,
AND, IN FACT,
THE MOST IMPORTANT.