{"id":15212,"date":"2018-04-06T09:38:08","date_gmt":"2018-04-06T15:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=15212"},"modified":"2024-12-05T16:41:18","modified_gmt":"2024-12-05T23:41:18","slug":"a-new-tune-for-managing-parkinsons-disease-symptoms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/a-new-tune-for-managing-parkinsons-disease-symptoms\/","title":{"rendered":"A new tune for managing Parkinson\u2019s disease symptoms?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><figure id=\"attachment_15214\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15214\" style=\"width: 256px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-15214 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06032542\/libbypiano.pngeee.webp\" alt=\"Libby McDermott pictured playing piano | UCHealth\" width=\"256\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06032542\/libbypiano.pngeee.webp 1200w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06032542\/libbypiano.pngeee-256x300.webp 256w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06032542\/libbypiano.pngeee-875x1024.webp 875w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06032542\/libbypiano.pngeee-768x899.webp 768w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06032542\/libbypiano.pngeee-128x150.webp 128w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06032542\/libbypiano.pngeee-200x234.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 256px) 100vw, 256px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-15214\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Libby McDermott practicing at the piano. She says her practice and regular neurologic music therapy have helped her to manage her Parkinson\u2019s disease symptoms and maintain her fine motor skills. Photo courtesy Libby McDermott.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Most days you can find Libby McDermott in front of a piano keyboard practicing. By her own admission, she\u2019s not musical, and she took up tinkling the keys only recently. But practice isn\u2019t a chore; she looks forward to forging through her book of tunes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s very relaxing,\u201d McDermott said.<\/p>\n<p>Learning to play the piano \u2013 she is taking on beginner versions of material ranging from Beethoven\u2019s \u201cOde to Joy\u201d to Rachel Platten\u2019s \u201cFight Song\u201d \u2013 isn\u2019t a mere avocation for McDermott, 65. It\u2019s an important part of working to slow the progression of her Parkinson\u2019s disease, which was diagnosed in October 2011. In addition to regular practice at home on a digital piano, McDermott also spends 45 minutes a week at Rehabilitative Rhythms, an Aurora-based facility staffed by music therapists who are certified to treat neurologic conditions with evidence-based techniques.<\/p>\n<p>During the Rehabilitative Rhythm sessions, McDermott works with neurologic music therapist Kathleen Marsh, following the time-honored teaching routine of running through scales, on piano keys weighted to provide resistance, led by the measured beats of a metronome. The idea is to use rhythm to strengthen connections in the auditory part of her brain to the region that controls muscle movement \u2013 the casualty of Parkinson\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Following the beat<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s a well-established idea, said <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ucdenver.edu\/academics\/colleges\/medicalschool\/departments\/neurology\/Faculty\/Pages\/Buard.aspx\">Isabelle Buard, PhD<\/a>, a neurologist and researcher with the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Buard notes that pioneering studies by <a href=\"https:\/\/rsi.utoronto.ca\/faculty\/michael-thaut\">Michael Thaut<\/a> and his colleagues have demonstrated that <a href=\"https:\/\/nmtacademy.co\/home\/clinic\/\">neurologic music therapy<\/a> (NMT) can improve gross motor signals vital to maintaining gait and balance in <a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007%2Fs40141-014-0049-y\">stroke<\/a> patients and those with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/25725919\">Parkinson\u2019s disease and other movement disorders<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Thaut\u2019s work revolves around the concept of \u201centrainment\u201d: the notion that stimulating the portion of the brain that perceives sound and rhythm can, in turn, synchronize other areas of the brain, including the region responsible for movement. Think of a crowd sitting in a packed stadium that begins clapping their hands or stomping their feet in unison at the sound of a pulsing, rhythmic cue.<\/p>\n<p>Now Buard is principal investigator for the <a href=\"https:\/\/clinicaltrials.gov\/ct2\/show\/NCT03049033\">first study<\/a> to explore using NMT\u00a0to improve fine-motor skills, which are essential to everyday tasks like writing, eating, and cleaning \u2013 not to mention enjoyable activities like playing the piano. Her conceptual framework too rests on using entrainment to find \u201canother switch,\u201d as she puts it, to neurologically light the motor area of the brain, which Parkinson\u2019s disease slowly darkens.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe think that NMT may benefit movement in patients by going through pathways in the brain that are not affected by Parkinson\u2019s disease,\u201d Buard said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_15216\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15216\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-15216 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06032737\/EXT_021218_Buard-Pegboard.jpgeee.webp\" alt=\"Isabelle Buard, CU neurologist demonstrates the pegboard test | UCHealth\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06032737\/EXT_021218_Buard-Pegboard.jpgeee.webp 1200w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06032737\/EXT_021218_Buard-Pegboard.jpgeee-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06032737\/EXT_021218_Buard-Pegboard.jpgeee-1024x576.webp 1024w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06032737\/EXT_021218_Buard-Pegboard.jpgeee-768x432.webp 768w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06032737\/EXT_021218_Buard-Pegboard.jpgeee-150x84.webp 150w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06032737\/EXT_021218_Buard-Pegboard.jpgeee-200x113.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-15216\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">CU neurologist Isabelle Buard, PhD, demonstrates the pegboard test that subjects in her study of neurologic music therapy for Parkinson&#8217;s disease patients take to test their fine motor skills before and after therapy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Rebekah Stewart, MA, MT-BC, a neurologic music therapist at Rehabilitative Rhythms, noted that functional magnetic resonance imaging shows that individuals process music in many areas of the brain.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMusic is a unique tool in treating neurologic injury because it can activate parts of the brain that have not been damaged as much as others,\u201d she said. Music therapy can help improve motor activity in patients with Parkinson\u2019s disease and other movement disorders by attuning them to beats and rhythms that in turn \u201cprime\u201d muscle movement.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Practice to improve the imperfect<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Stewart is one of the Rehabilitative Rhythms therapists for Buard\u2019s study; McDermott was one of the early subjects. A control group receives standard occupational therapy to improve their fine-motor skills without rhythmic entrainment. The study group attends thrice-weekly, 45-minute therapy sessions with Rehabilitative Rhythms therapists for five weeks. They use a piano and other musical instruments to practice fine motor movements and patterns with their hands at increasing tempos. They also have short daily home practice sessions that include touching their thumbs in sequence to the other fingers of each hand; extending their arms with palms turned either up or down and curling their fingers into a fist; and reaching for and grasping a cup, dinner utensil or coin in one hand, transferring it to the other and returning it to precisely the same position.<\/p>\n<p>For all the home exercises, patients receive a CD with verbal instructions and cues from a strummed autoharp as well as a steady metronomic beat.<\/p>\n<p>Buard gets baseline measurements of each group\u2019s fine motor skills using a timed test that requires subjects to put small metal pegs into holes in a board. She also records their brain activity with a scanner installed in a compact space in Building 500 on the\u00a0Anschutz Medical Campus.<\/p>\n<p>For this part of the study, the subject lies on a bed, and Buard attaches leads to specific positions on the head, then slips on a helmet equipped with 248 sensors. With the individual lying perfectly still, Buard plays a series of rhythmic and arrhythmic beats. On hearing them, the subject presses a button positioned at the fingertips. A computer screen in the adjacent room displays the brain activity, showing the connection between the auditory and motor regions. This goes on for an hour. The study participants also get an MRI for a picture of the brain\u2019s anatomy.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-15217 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06033323\/buardmcdermottleads.pngeee.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"226\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06033323\/buardmcdermottleads.pngeee.webp 1200w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06033323\/buardmcdermottleads.pngeee-300x226.webp 300w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06033323\/buardmcdermottleads.pngeee-1024x770.webp 1024w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06033323\/buardmcdermottleads.pngeee-768x577.webp 768w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06033323\/buardmcdermottleads.pngeee-150x113.webp 150w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06033323\/buardmcdermottleads.pngeee-200x150.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>After the therapy, the participants in both groups complete pegboard and imaging post-tests to measure the improvement, if any, in their fine motor skills and connectivity between the auditory and motor portions of the brain.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Battling back from a dire diagnosis<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The cool clinical setting of Buard\u2019s small lab makes it easy to forget that she\u2019s looking for ways to improve the lives of patients battling a debilitating and isolating disease. McDermott said she was actually relieved when she received diagnostic tests from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/provider\/dianna-quan-neuromuscular-medicine\/\">Dianna Quann, MD<\/a>, a neuromuscular specialist practicing at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/locations\/uchealth-neurosciences-center-anschutz\/\">UCHealth Neurosciences Center<\/a> at University of Colorado Hospital, and a final diagnosis from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/provider\/maureen-leehey-md-neurology\/\">Maureen Leehey, MD<\/a>, chief of the Movement Disorders Division at the CU School of Medicine.<\/p>\n<p>If relief sounds like a strange reaction, consider the lengthy, frustrating period that preceded it. McDermott said that only in retrospect did she recognize telltale signs of the disease.<\/p>\n<p>She had little reason to suspect it. She was an avid skier in good physical shape and had for 20 years taught third grade in the Cherry Creek School District \u2013 a job that required both physical and mental stamina. In 2010, though, seemingly small problems began to nag at her. Multitasking, an essential skill for every teacher, became increasingly difficult. Her \u201cgorgeous teacher handwriting\u201d got progressively smaller and harder to read. She made puzzling mistakes, like writing \u201cgrate\u201d on a student\u2019s paper instead of \u201cgreat\u201d and at times had trouble with memory and concentration. There were other warning signs, such as a gradual rigidity in her right arm, but \u201cno one thing that seemed worth asking anyone about,\u201d McDermott said.<\/p>\n<p>Her physical challenges increased when she fell while skiing and broke her left shoulder. The recovery required a year of physical therapy. One day during the recovery her husband <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/provider\/mike-mcdermott-md-endocrinology-diabetes-and-metabolism\/\">Mike<\/a>, medical director at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/locations\/uchealth-endocrinology-diabetes-metabolism-anschutz\/\">Diabetes and Endocrinology Clinic<\/a> at UCH, noticed Libby didn\u2019t swing her right arm at all when she walked. That observation eventually led to the diagnosis of Parkinson\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n<p>At that point she was only 58 but said she felt closer to 85. \u201cI felt I\u2019d aged significantly. I was worried about Alzheimer\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Staying on the move<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Medications that maintain and regulate dopamine \u2013 the neurotransmitter essential to movement that Parkinson\u2019s disease attacks \u2013 in the brain have helped her manage her symptoms, including loosening her right arm. But they can produce side effects, such as involuntary movements, and must be tightly managed. McDermott was determined not to rely on medications alone to slow her disease progression.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_15218\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15218\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-15218\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06033406\/EXT_021218_McDermott-Helmet-and-Tone-Button.jpgeee.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06033406\/EXT_021218_McDermott-Helmet-and-Tone-Button.jpgeee.webp 1200w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06033406\/EXT_021218_McDermott-Helmet-and-Tone-Button.jpgeee-300x225.webp 300w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06033406\/EXT_021218_McDermott-Helmet-and-Tone-Button.jpgeee-1024x768.webp 1024w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06033406\/EXT_021218_McDermott-Helmet-and-Tone-Button.jpgeee-768x576.webp 768w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06033406\/EXT_021218_McDermott-Helmet-and-Tone-Button.jpgeee-150x113.webp 150w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06033406\/EXT_021218_McDermott-Helmet-and-Tone-Button.jpgeee-200x150.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-15218\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Her head fitted under a helmet with nearly 250 sensors, McDermott rests her hand on buttons she will press when she hears the tones through her ear buds.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>She exercises regularly with walking, aerobics and light weightlifting. Last August she pedaled 65 miles on the Copper Triangle to raise awareness for the <a id=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/davisphinneyfoundation.org\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Davis Phinney Foundation for Parkinson\u2019s<\/a>, an organization that provides education and support for Parkinson\u2019s patients, families and caregivers. She\u2019s also participated in Pedaling 4 Parkinson\u2019s to garner funds for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michaeljfox.org\/\">Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson\u2019s Research<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Music is now firmly entrenched in McDermott\u2019s therapeutic regimen. She said that after she finished Buard\u2019s study protocol last spring she noticed improvement in her fine motor movements, which is one of her biggest challenges.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have trouble with typing and handwriting,\u201d she said. To demonstrate, she picked up a pen from a table with her right hand and turned it into position to write only with difficulty. Pressing the piano\u2019s weighted keys to a regimented beat, she said, has helped to loosen her hands from Parkinson\u2019s rigid grasp.<\/p>\n<p>Other signs of the power of music pop up from time to time, McDermott said. A longtime skier, she recently practiced S turns on the slopes with music playing through one earbud. With music that \u201cbest matches the way I ski,\u201d she hit her patterns accurately. When the rhythm of the music stopped, so did the accuracy of her turns.<\/p>\n<p>The experience wasn\u2019t surprising to Buard. \u201cThe music is driving the brain to find a functioning level of movement,\u201d she said. McDermott\u2019s experience, she added, shows again the power of rhythm to synchronize the auditory and motor portions of the brain.<\/p>\n<p>Buard makes no claims about the potential long-term effects of NMT, noting that as people age their brains lose plasticity \u2013 the ability to change and adapt to stimuli. That presents another challenge for treating people with Parkinson\u2019s, most of whom are middle-age or older (the study is recruiting those from 45 to 85 years of age). Still, Buard added, finding ways to slow the progression of the disease is important to helping patients preserve their quality of life.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_15219\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15219\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-15219\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06033447\/EXT_021218_Brainwaves.jpgeee.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06033447\/EXT_021218_Brainwaves.jpgeee.webp 1200w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06033447\/EXT_021218_Brainwaves.jpgeee-300x225.webp 300w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06033447\/EXT_021218_Brainwaves.jpgeee-1024x768.webp 1024w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06033447\/EXT_021218_Brainwaves.jpgeee-768x576.webp 768w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06033447\/EXT_021218_Brainwaves.jpgeee-150x113.webp 150w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/06033447\/EXT_021218_Brainwaves.jpgeee-200x150.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-15219\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Buard monitors McDermott\u0092s brain waves. The information will help to show the connections between the regions of the brain governing auditory stimuli and movement.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThere is depression associated with both fine-motor and cognitive decline,\u201d she said. As that occurs, patients may feel increasingly isolated. The challenges of depression and anxiety can extend to family and loved ones, Buard added \u2013 another reason to find readily accessible therapies, like NMT, that ameliorate symptoms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I\u2019m feeling stiff and unfocused, I can sit at the piano and play, and I feel better,\u201d McDermott said. \u201cI like to look for ways to manage my symptoms without increasing medications. There is no risk to this therapy. At worst it may not help you, but in my experience, it has made a significant difference.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>For more information about the NMT for Parkinson\u2019s disease study, contact Isabelle Buard at <span class=\"baec5a81-e4d6-4674-97f3-e9220f0136c1\">303-724-5973<\/span> or <\/em><a href=\"mailto:Isabelle.buard@ucdenver.edu\"><em>Isabelle.buard@ucdenver.edu<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most days you can find Libby McDermott in front of a piano keyboard practicing. By her own admission, she\u2019s not musical, and she took up tinkling the keys only recently. But practice isn\u2019t a chore; she looks forward to forging through her book of tunes. \u201cIt\u2019s very relaxing,\u201d McDermott said. Learning to play the piano [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2143,"featured_media":15224,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1939,184,750],"class_list":["post-15212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-innovative-care","tag-movement-disorders","tag-neurology","tag-parkinsons-disease"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A new tune for managing Parkinson\u2019s disease symptoms? 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