Parkinson's disease is a neurological disorder with cardinal motor signs of resting tremor, bradykinesia and lead-pipe rigidity. In addition, many patients display non-motor symptoms, including a diminished sensation of smell, gastrointestinal problems, various disorders of sleep and some cognitive impairment. These clinical features - particularly the motor signs - manifest after a progressive death of many dopaminergic neurones in the brain. Although currently available, conventional therapies can reduce the signs of the disease, the progression of this neuronal death has proved difficult to slow or stop, and the condition is relentlessly progressive. Hence, there is a real need to develop a treatment that is neuroprotective, one that slows the pathology of the disease effectively. At present, there are several neuroprotective therapies in the experimental pipeline, but these are for the patients of tomorrow. This book focuses on two therapies that are readily available for the patients of today. They involve the use of exercise and light (i.e. photobiomodulation, the use of red to infrared light therapy (λ=600-1070nm) on body tissues). The two therapies are tied together in several ways. First, in animal models of Parkinson's disease, they each have been shown to offer the key feature of neuroprotection, stimulating a series of built-in protective mechanisms within the neurones, that helps their survival, to self-protect and/or self-repair. There are also some promising indications of neuroprotection and many beneficial outcomes in parkinsonian patients. Further, both exercise and light therapies are similar in that they are non-invasive and safe to use, with no known adverse side-effects, making their combination with the conventional therapies, such as dopamine replacement drug therapy and deep brain stimulation, all the more feasible. Given the heterogeneity of Parkinson's disease in humans, tackling the condition from a range of different angles - with a number of different therapies - would only serve to enhance the positive outcomes. This book considers the use of exercise and light therapies, proposing that they have the potential to make a powerful "dynamic duo", offering a most effective neuroprotective treatment option to patients.

Laura has it all: a great job, a loving family, a new husband, and a house in her hometown, where she can watch her sister, Taylor, grow up. But one month after her wedding, Laura and her family receive shocking news: Taylor has Batten disease. A rare, fatal disease that will cause Taylor to go blind, suffer seizures, and lose the ability to walk and talk. There is no cure. Laura thought she'd get to watch her baby sister grow up, but instead she'll have to watch her die. Unwilling to take no cure for an answer, Laura founds a charity with family and friends, Taylor's Tale, to save children with the disease. Meanwhile, Taylor starts running, completing her first race blind. Inspired, Laura, a lifelong runner, begins running in half marathons to raise money and awareness. And also to run away from the pain. Taylor's Tale becomes a world leader in the fight against Batten disease, but not quickly enough to save Taylor. Stripped of her faith, Laura falls into a dark despair. But Taylor's unwavering courage in the face of certain death gives Laura a renewed sense of purpose to turn her family's tragedy into an opportunity--to ensure others won't have to suffer as her sister has suffered. Run to the Light is Laura's inspiring account of how she found the courage to face indescribable loss, and of what it means to really believe.

A brilliant feat of storytelling, Red Light Run is the radiant and stunning debut from Best New American Voices writer Baird Harper. When two cars collide at an intersection in a leafy Chicago suburb, Hartley Nolan is not the person police expect to find behind the wheel. After all, he barely drinks; everyone knows it’s his wife who’s the alcoholic. But the bigger question on people’s minds is what brought Sonia Senn, dead at the scene, back to her hometown in such a hurry that night? In eleven tightly linked stories, Red Light Run pulls us into the inner lives of Hartley, Sonia, and a host of other characters to untangle the mounting forces that carry them to their fates. Among the ensemble in this prismatic collection are a real estate agent who seeks gossip on the market rather than houses, a trailer park developer whose entire livelihood is laid to waste by a single cigarette, a divorced mother battling her daughter-in-law for hegemony over her kitchen, a widower hell-bent on destroying the invasive species of beetle that’s wiping out his oak trees, and a down-and-out handyman with a desperate plan for revenge. And then there’s Sonia Senn, with a dark secret of her own, and Hartley Nolan, who has risen above his roots to become a commodities trader in Chicago only to end up sentenced to eight years at Grassland State Prison. With infectiously grim humor and wry insight, these characters contemplate their realities in relation to one tragic moment, propelling us toward a startling revelation about the long and sometimes crooked arc of justice.

How could something we have for free—our bare feet—be better for running than $150 shoes? The truth is that running in shoes is high-impact, unstable, and inflexible. Shoes promote a heel-centric ground strike, which weakens your feet, knees, and hips, and leads to common running injuries. In contrast, barefoot running is low-impact, forefoot-centric, stable, and beneficial to your body. It encourages proper form and strengthens your feet in miraculous ways. When you run in shoes, you not only risk developing poor form, but you also hinder the natural relationship with the ground that running facilitates. Barefoot running restores the delightful sensory and spiritual connections to the earth that you were meant to experience. Barefoot Running offers the only step-by-step direction runners need at any age to overcome injuries, run faster than ever, and rediscover the pure joy of running. Once you tear off your shoes and learn to dance with nature, you’ll tread lightly and freely, hearing only the earth’s symphony and feeling only the dirt beneath your feet. Hit the ground running with revolutionary techniques for starting out slowly, choosing minimalist footwear, navigating rough weather and rugged terrain, and building your feet into living shoes.

A large segment of the population struggles with feelings of being detached from themselves and their loved ones. They feel flawed, and blame themselves. Running on Empty will help them realize that they're suffering not because of something that happened to them in childhood, but because of something that didn't happen. It's the white space in their family picture, the background rather than the foreground. This will be the first self-help book to bring this invisible force to light, educate people about it, and teach them how to overcome it.

"A boy runs so fast that he imagines himself to be a rabbit, a bobcat, a horse, and a cheetah."--[Source inconnue].

A straightforward, easy-to-follow look at the anatomy, biomechanics, and nutrition of running. Dr. Cucuzzella "aims to improve the fitness and well-being of all, from the uninitiated to beginners to veterans who still have new tricks to learn" (Amby Burfoot, Boston Marathon winner, writer at large for Runner’s World magazine, and author of The Runner’s Guide to the Meaning of Life). Despite our natural ability and our human need to run, each year more than half of all runners suffer injuries. Pain and discouragement inevitably follow. Cucuzzella's book outlines the proven, practical techniques to avoid injury and reach the goal of personal fitness and overall health. With clear drawings and black-and-white photographs, the book provides illustrated exercises designed to teach healthy running, along with simple progressions and a running schedule that shows the reader how to tailor their training regimen to their individual needs and abilities.