Ask HN: Are you a programmer with Parkinson's?

I do not have Parkinson's but I have a form of Muscular Dystrophy which acts a lot like Parkinson's (to the point where a number of people get it confused). In some ways I have been quite lucky; mine began to show signs when I was born and has progressed slowly my entire life. It causes tremors, spasms in my hands and arms (and neck and eyes), and muscle weakness. Because of the progressive nature I don't really notice it. Your body is amazingly good at adapting to things even rather quickly progressing things.

Luckily we don't move a lot in this business. I might type slightly less quickly than most people (though I am actually quite a fast typist, I think it's slowing with age), and I might make more typos (thank goodness for IDE's which help correct things like that!) Ultimately I can code all day without much problem at all. Maybe other engineers are less tired at the end of the day, but who knows? I can only judge how I do based on my own experience.

The one big problem with Parkinson's is that it can have cognitive effects. I have read that it can cause dementia and other issues. This could obviously effect coding.

Anyway, I am glad to answer any questions.

Great question! I am just starting to figure out adaptations to cope with multiple sclerosis (another neurological disease) that has stolen my ability to touch type. I'll be watching here for advice, too.

There are nuero rehab practices and physical therapists who specialized in this area. I would start by having a conversation with one of these folks.

I suggest you to watch this talk on this years ng-conf.

https://youtu.be/mAjjI35RcUE?t=11949

One thing that you guys might be interested in: there has been some limited investigation into tandem cycling as a therapy for Parkinson's, though it's somewhat anecdotal. What research there is suggests that it's about being forced to cycle at 80-to-90 rpm at a lower resistance which still keeps your heart rate up, as opposed to cycling voluntarily at whatever pace you want while being coached to keep your heart rate at the same level: 5 people who were forced to cycle at the higher RPM showed dramatic improvements in symptoms, as opposed to 5 who set their own RPM with coaching.

Since those numbers are so low, there is right now a team at the Cleveland Clinic which recruiting for a much larger study (100 people total) that they're calling CYCLE: 40 people with PD will do forced exercise on a motorized stationary bike in the lab, 40 will do voluntary exercise on a normal stationary bike in the lab, and 20 will not be directed to exercise at all in the lab:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4415238/

This is right now still in the recruiting stage so it probably has a couple years before it yields results; but if your friend can't live in Cleveland for a year, you could try to find another way to keep yourself at the 80-90 RPM levels, whether tandem biking with your friend or else by jury rigging a motor or perhaps even self-discipline.