Parkinson’s Patient Takes Step to Help Others With Disease

Lisa Greenstadt has waged a daily battle against Parkinson’s disease for nearly 20 years.

Like many Parkinson’s patients, Greenstadt, 66, has experienced episodes of “freezing,” a feeling of being stuck in place and unable to initiate a step.

To overcome her slowed gait, the retired UCLA psychobiologist invented a specialized cane to improve her mobility.

“This device can benefit a number of Parkinson’s patients who take short, shuffling steps because it lengthens their stride,” said Dr. Charles H. Markham, professor of neurology emeritus at UCLA and Greenstadt’s personal physician.

“It’s a simple device and I encourage any Parkinsonian to get one and try it out,” he said. “If it doesn’t work, they’re not out much. I’m really enthusiastic about it.”

The StepOver Wand is a short, horizontal rod mounted above the rubber tip of a conventional cane. The tiny rod--for which a patent is pending with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office--creates an “obstacle” that its user must step over in order to move forward.

Greenstadt’s invention, one of several walking aids developed over the years by Parkinson’s patients to improve mobility, can be purchased for $35 via the Internet (https://www.stepover.com).

Greenstadt came upon the idea for the StepOver Wand after a visit to the Neuroscience Institute at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles.

During the exam, Oleg Kopyov, the institute’s research director, asked her to walk across the floor. Unable to move on her own, Kopyov placed his foot in front of Greenstadt’s and asked her to step over. She did so with ease.

In the days after the visit, Greenstadt tried to come up with a device that would create an obstacle for her to step over.

First, she asked her husband, Eugene, 67, to put his foot in front of hers just as Kopyov had done, but rejected the idea as impractical.

Next, she tried placing shoes in a row, but feared she could trip and fall. Then she affixed a strip of cloth to the end of a dowel. That worked even better.

Finally, the cane with the short rod became the best solution, and the StepOver Wand was born.

“I feel that so many people can be helped,” she said, during a recent interview at her Encino home. “It is such a simple thing. I can’t understand why someone didn’t come up with the idea before.”

Well, in a way, several Parkinson’s patients already have.

Dr. Abraham Lieberman, medical director of the National Parkinson Foundation in Miami, said he’s seen many innovative walking aids in the past.

“They are all variations on the same theme,” Lieberman said, “which is to confront a condition that afflicts Parkinson’s patients.”

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One patient created goggles fitted with a movie camera that projects imaginary lines on the floor, Lieberman said.

Another patient came up with the U-Step Walker. Users grip the inverted “U,” place their feet between the two sides and push a button that projects a horizontal red beam of light, creating an obstacle to step over.

Still another Parkinson’s sufferer used a straightened wire clothes hanger to help her walk.

“Simulating lines on the floor unfreezes them,” Lieberman said. “There are all kinds of questions as to why this happens. Why it works is not clear.”

As a nonprofit organization, the National Parkinson Foundation does not endorse any of the walking aids, Lieberman said. However, the products and their inventors are often featured in foundation publications.

“We don’t promote these ideas,” he said, “but if they work for some patients, it’s wonderful.”

Greenstadt, for one, said she feels empowered when she uses her StepOver Wand.

“When my medication begins to wear off, I feel that my legs are tied up. I feel unsteady, and I can fall over,” she said. “Stepping over gives me a feeling of control.”

For information about Parkinson’s disease, call the West Coast Office of the National Parkinson Foundation at (800) 522-8855.