A glass of whisky a day keeps the neurologist away

Thursday 27 September 2018

A glass of whisky a day keeps the neurologist away.

Or does it?

Six months ago I embarked on an experiment to see if drinking a glass of single malt Scotch whisky every day would have an effect on my symptoms. You may recall (see previous post here) my hypothesis that possible neuroprotective effects of ellagic acid, or some other chemical in the drink, helped my grandfather live to 93 without ever showing any signs of the disease. This in spite of him likely being a carrier of a faulty gene passed down through at least four generations of my family.

I should say up front that my experiment has been highly unscientific. Here are its main flaws:

1. There is no control. There is no other me not taking the medicine to compare against.

2. There is no placebo. There is no other me drinking an ineffective whisky taste-a-like to eliminate the possibility that the effect is simply psychological.

3. I have not standardised the amount or time of day that I take my medicine. Sometimes I have a glass of whisky in the evening; sometimes I have half a glass after lunch and before my afternoon snooze. I even sometimes have a sip in the  middle of the night to help me get back to sleep. (Am I turning into an alcoholic? Not really, as some days I have nothing at all.. though I do typically drink six days per week.)

4. I do not take the same medicine every day. I’ve sampled the delights of 16 different distilleries so far.

5. There is no objective measure of the results. Actually this is a general problem with any clinical trial of drugs for Parkinson’s.

Nevertheless, it’s interesting to reflect on whether this is complete fantasy or whether - just maybe - there is some merit in my crazy fad.

So here is my analysis after half a year.

First question: does it have to be single malt rather than blended whisky?

Well the thesis is that the reactions with the wood in the cask over a period of ten years or longer lead to rich concentrations of ellagic acid (or whatever other substance may be having an effect). And there is some proper science to support this. So, yes, aged single malt over young blended.

Secondly, which brand?

Again there is some science behind this. The Balvenie whiskies have the highest concentrations, but other Speyside distilleries produce similarly rich potions. But for me it comes down to the taste. 

Though not yet a connoisseur, I am starting develop my own views of what I like and don’t like and some of the differences between the regions. Before starting my experiment I had a slight preference for the smoky flavour of the island malts, caused by the peat in the water. But now I prefer the richer, sweeter and more refined taste of the Speyside malts, of which there are many. I’m less keen on the rougher highland malts and I have no experience - yet - of the lowland malts.

Here are my ratings out of ten based on taste but also taking value for money into consideration. So for example Aberlour is not the finest taste but, in my opinion, is good for the price. The other numbers refer to the age in years.

Speyside

• Aberlour 10:  6/10
• Aberlour 12:  7/10
• The Balvenie double wood 10:  7/10
• The Balvenie triple cask 12:  6/10
• Glen Moray:  6/10
• Glenfiddich 12:  5/10
• The Glenlivet 12:  5/10
• Singleton of Dufftown 10:  6/10
• Tamdhu 10:  5/10

Highland

• Glenmorangie 10: 2/10
• Glengoyne 14: 4/10
• Oban 14: 3/10

Island

• Bowmore 10: 7/10
• Laphroaig 10:  5/10
• Talisker 10: 7/10

Blended

• Monkey Shoulder: 2/10
• Some cheap Japanese crap I bought at Heathrow airport - 0/10

Thirdly and most importantly: does it work?

Given all of the above caveats, it’s difficult to draw any meaningful conclusions. In the last six months my condition has ebbed and flowed a little and there have been one or two new symptoms.

And yet... as I sit typing this in a hotel room in Copenhagen (see previous post here - yes, I won the work) I don’t feel too bad at all - symptoms largely under control and the fatigue, whilst still a challenge, is something I’m managing better these days.

So maybe it does have a positive effect, at least on my version of Parkinson’s. I can say with reasonable confidence that it hasn’t made things any worse.

Even if it hasn’t had any genuine medical effect, it’s been fun. I have a new hobby, I look forward to my glass of the hard stuff every day, and I get to show off my growing collection of single malts when friends come round for dinner. Seems like a good idea to continue the experiment for another six months. At least.

Now then, I’m in a hotel room and, having travelled with hand luggage only, I have none of my liquid gold medicine with me. Luckily there’s a minibar, but it only has a miniature bottle of Jack Daniels. 

In my desperation, I crack it open. It actually tastes okay - relatively light with a pleasant, lingering aftertaste.

Another one to add to my list?

Unfortunately not. I’m now a Scotch single malt snob. For medical reasons you understand.

Flexible working revisited

Saturday 15 September 2018

I’ve discovered the secret of keeping my Parkinson’s under control…

It’s to be on holiday all the time and not work.

In all seriousness, when I take a holiday of a week or more, the main problem, which is the constant fatigue, starts to abate. With this, the various other symptoms like my softening voice or tremor, start to ease as well.

In short, working makes everything worse.

  

Unfortunately, I still have a few more years to go on the mortgage and, even with my reduced life expectancy, the pension pot still looks too small, but I do earn enough to consider working part time.

At the start of the year I tried a 90% (4.5 day) working week for a trial three-month period. Unfortunately, the trial didn’t really work.  I was effectively still working full time anyway, spending my weekends catching up for what I didn’t do on Friday afternoons, but not getting paid for it. So, six months ago I reverted back to full time.

Since then my Parkinson’s has progressed a little further and I simply can’t cope with working full time any longer. From next month onwards, I have agreed with my employer to again revert to a 90% working week. But this time there’s no going back and I see this as a transition to an 80% (four day) working week starting in the new year. 

Second time around, I need to make the arrangement work. Because I work for a Professional Services firm, I’m not paid by the hour so it’s not a simple case of reducing the time I show up in the office. Rather, I’ve discussed with my boss adjusting my overall responsibilities to take on fewer clients and have a proportionally lower sales target.

It will take discipline to do this. I will have to say no more often, delegate ruthlessly, and perhaps hardest of all, see my peers (and in due course people who are today my subordinates) progress ahead of me. Maybe I can still rise further to the top echelons of my firm, but it seems unlikely.

When riding on the Parkinson’s bus you only get a one-way ticket. In a work context, it would be a miracle if I could do anything other than follow suit. 

But I see this in a positive light as well: working less will hopefully give me more opportunity to exercise, spend time with my family and bring some enjoyment back to daily life – something that has been lacking for the past couple of years as I undergo a desperate struggle each week to make it through to Friday evening.

It’s time to start taking control.