Back in 2020, as the Covid pandemic began, a few of us got together and started a company called Coach Me Strong, an individualized exercise coaching program for people with Parkinson's. One of the first things we said to anyone who called to learn more about Coach Me Strong was, "No matter what you previous career was, now that you are diagnosed with Parkinson's your new career is as a professional athlete."

This was not meant to be off-putting but rather to impress that, with Parkinson's, exercise is not an option...the same as with any professional athlete.

In this episode Sasha Graham, host of the podcast, Sports Will Save Us All, joins us to reflect on the hundreds of interviews she has done with professional and amateur athletes and coaches about the professional athlete's mindset.

Check out her show, Sports Will Save Us All

And check out Coach Me Strong

Dr. Michael Okun, a neurologist at University of Florida, has spent almost 25 years researching Parkinson's and treating people with Parkinson's. Now, in one of the best written and most accessible books ever written on Parkinson's, Dr. Okun and Dr. Ray Dorsey lay out the plan:

1. What causes Parkinson's?
2. What can be done to prevent it?
3. What do you do once you have it?

Listen in as we look at the history and the rapid rise of Parkinson's to a point where it is often being considered a pandemic.

For more information on The Parkinson's Plan and to purchase the book, click here: https://pdplan.org/

How do you prepare for your visit with your movement disorders specialist – your doctor, nurse practitioner, or PA? In this episode filled with practical guidance, Sherrie Gould, NP, CMRD, continues with her series about working with your medical care team.

Bring your care partner, write everything down, have your questions ready. Sherrie looks at this and much more as you get ready for your Parkinson's appointment. 

We recently crossed the threshold of 100 podcasts and it's become an amazing collection of information related to living a better life with Parkinson's. However, it's always been difficult to find specific information in a specific episode...you had to scroll through all the titles.

We solved that this week with our new PASD Microcast Directory. Search by category, search by keyword, including the name of the guest, and quickly find the episodes that interest you. And you can still go right to the latest episodes.

Check it out. And if you have questions about the podcasts, or an idea for an episode, please let us know.

Podcast Directory: https://parkinsonsassociation.org/pasd-microcasts/

Contact us here: https://parkinsonsassociation.org/contact-pasd/

In this episode we continue our series with Sherrie Gould, NP, CMRD on the relationship between you and your care team. Sherrie looks at the benefits and value of seeing an advanced practice provider – a nurse practitioner or physician's assistant and provides some insight on the training, education, and experiences APPs have in the care of Parkinson's and other movement disorders.

If you have Parkinson's, should you see a neurologist who is a movement disorders specialist? A general neurologist? An advanced practice provider –  nurse practitioner or PA? Or your primary care physician.

Although this may seem like an obvious series of questions, in this episode nurse practitioner Sherrie Gould unpacks some of the differences between these medical professionals and some of your options if you are facing a long wait to get an appointment to see a clinician.

When we conceived the topic for this microcast the idea was to talk about the differences for a coach working wth older athletes and younger athletes, or older people with Parkinson's who have to exercise and younger people, with or without Parkinson's, who want to exercise. 

However, as the conversation developed, the apparent differences became less and less obvious. 

Join Coach Tracey Jacobs, a cyclist having won world and national championships, and Jeff Seckendorf, age 70, coach and world record holder on the bike and Director of Operations at the Parkinson's Association of San Diego, as they unpack this seemingly simple topic.

For more information on Coach Tracey, click here: https://traceyjacobscoaching.com/

For Coach Me Strong, click here: https://coachmestrong.com/

For exercise opportunities at the Parkinson's Association of San Diego, click here: https://parkinsonsassociation.org/exercise-opportunities/

We hear occasionally that our website is so full of useful and important information about Parkinson's and each person's journey with Parkinson's that sometimes it can be overwhelming. Where to start? Where to look? What do I need today to help me?

To help ease that information-overload, we just created a series of "Quick Link" pages, basically landing pages to streamline your entry into the website. The first three are online now: Newly diagnosed, young onset, and care partners.

In this short microcast, Director of Operations Jeff Seckendorf gives you a bit more information about the pages and our thought process leading to their development.

Questions? Contact us here.

In episode #93 in June of 2024 we met Dr. Vamsi Chavakula for a discussion on MR-Guided Focused Ultrasound. Now we're back with part 2. 

Dr. Chavakula, affiliated with Sharp Healthcare, has recently completed his 50th MR-Guided Focused Ultrasound procedure for people with Parkinson's disease and essential tremor. In this episode we look at recent advancements in the technology, discuss some of the differences between focused ultrasound and deep brain stimulation, and talk about some of the history of these treatments.

Click here for more information on treating movement disorders at Sharp.

For more information about the Parkinson's Association of San Diego, click here.

In this episode we meet Dr. Anna Halbeisen, a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine board-certified in emergency medicine, sports medicine as well as neuromusculoskeletal/osteopathic manual medicine. We talk with Dr. Halbeisen about exercise and how that impacts your body from a medical perspective, particularly in people diagnosed with Parkinson's.

For more information about Dr. Halbeisen and her group medical visits, check out her website, https://drhalbeisen.com/