The Eyes Have It

“Are you going to blink?” My friend sounded curious and a little creeped out. I responded with an emphatic, “Huh?“ She went on, “You haven’t blinked since we sat down.”

The last time I remember blinking was over eight years ago when I was told I have Parkinson’s. My eyes closed for a moment I thought my life was ruined. Then I open my eyes and never looked back

• I didn’t blink when I experienced the first medication side effects.

• I didn’t blink when my voice would weaken during public presentations.

• I didn’t blink when the urologist said “we’re going to insert these two tubes…” OK, I may have blinked that one time.

• I didn’t blink when I was diagnosed with rapid eye movement behavior disorder after I started throwing things off the bed while sleeping, including myself.

• I didn’t blink when I started drooling after six years of telling my neurologists that I don’t drool.

• I didn’t even blink when my neurologist recently identified a new involuntary movement (dyskinesia).

So as my friend pointed out yet another symptom of my Parkinson’s. I wanted to blink, but I couldn’t.

(FYI - I did some research, and it was eye-opening! Vision and eye problems are common for people living with Parkinson’s disease. One common problem is dry eyes caused by reduced blinking. Most people blink 15 to 20 times per minute. Some people with Parkinson’s can go as low as 1 to 2 times per minute. Generally, this is attributed to muscular changes in the face due to Parkinson’s. Sometimes it is a medication side effect. I also read that light exposure - which is in part regulated by blinking - increases dopamine levels. Not blinking may be an adaptive response to the loss of dopamine in the Parkinson’s brain. None of this information makes it any less creepy.)