a fox/limbaugh follow up
Since writing about them yesterday, some new facts have come to light regarding the Michael J. Fox stem cell ads and Rush Limbaugh’s response.
First, Fox said in an interview that he was actually on his medications during the filming. This is not surprising. Parkinson’s disease is primarily due to a lack of a neurotransmitter called dopamine, and the drugs used to treat Parkinson’s are essentially a synthetic form of that chemical. Since dopamine plays a role in regulating a tremendous number of processes in the body and brain, the positive effects of the drug can be very difficult to time, and the side effects can be unpredictable and often as bad as Parkinson’s itself. This is all the more reason why we need more effective treatments for Parkinson’s, as the current drugs are really more like chemical sledgehammers for the problem, and moreover, they inevitably lose their effectiveness over time.
Second, you have the quivering Jabba the Hut lookalike that is Rush Limbaugh. As if I wasn’t angry enough over his comments, there’s actually a video of him recording that broadcast. It’s hard to contain my revulsion as I watch him flop around in his little chair, engaged in a twisted parody of a terrible illness.
It’s also worth noting that Michael J. Fox has been nothing but gracious and understanding in his responses to Limbaugh’s ignorance, much more gracious than I am willing to be.
One would think that his drug addiction and his love affair with the sound of his own voice almost coming to an end might have taught him some humility, but alas, Rush Limbaugh’s douchebaggery knows no bounds.
It is really too bad that so many people take on faith what they read in the newspaper.
My father use to say, believe nothing that you hear and only half of what you see.
In this case I listened to the rush limbaugh podcast for Monday & Tuesday and found that the news reports were totally distorted in an unbelievable way.
Go to the source. do rely on hearsay.
Rush put in the knife trivializing Fox’s reactions to his Parkinson’s medication, in a few years he may be able to twist it. A 20 second literature review will reveal to even the novice researcher of the neurosciences the dopamine theory of schizophrenia. Turns out that dopamine treatments that attempt to quell the neurological riot that is Parkinson’s eventually elicit schizophrenic symptoms (such as auditory hallucinations). I’ve encountered several personal reports and case studies that stated it took about 7 years for the dopamine to lose its effects in mollifying Parkinson’s before schizophrenic symptoms became pronounced. In the absolutely horrific scenario that M J Fox endures the schizophrenic side effects of prolonged L-DOPA treatment (heaven forbid), let’s see if we get another equally insulting commentary by Rush as he pretends to hear the voice of the Lucky Charms leprechaun and shakes uncontrollably in his overpriced studio.
(Source: Take any Neuropsychology 101 course at the local community college or accomplish a feat of modern technological daring by Googling “dopamine theory of schizophrenia” or researching Phil Seeman at the University of Toronto)