A common misconception is that palliative care implies hospice, when in fact, palliative care can and should be a component of the treatment of any serious disease, including Parkinson’s. The word “palliation” means providing relief from pain and other symptoms, with a goal of improving quality of life. Individuals receiving palliative care also may receive other treatments, with curative intent if available. On the other hand, palliation can be a part of hospice, but in hospice, a person no longer has curative options or chooses not to pursue them. In this episode, Maggie Ivancic, MSW, LCSWA, the Clinical Social Worker and Parkinson’s Foundation Center of Excellence Coordinator at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, discusses aspects of palliative care – how it differs from hospice, its intent, and how and where to access it.

Aunque los medicamentos suelen ayudar a minimizar las fluctuaciones motoras de la enfermedad de Parkinson, hay ocasiones en las que la medicación no es suficiente y se plantean opciones de tratamiento avanzadas.

Es importante explorar las opciones quirúrgicas con su especialista en la EP si esto es algo que puede considerar. La cirugía a menudo se reserva para aquellos que han optimizado y agotado los medicamentos para el temblor de Parkinson o que experimentan profundas fluctuaciones motoras.

En este episodio de podcast, escuchamos al Dr. Gonzalo Revuelta, profesor asociado de neurología y director médico del programa de estimulación cerebral profunda en MUSC, la Medical University of South Carolina, sobre las opciones de tratamiento quirúrgico disponibles para las personas con la enfermedad de Parkinson.

¡Siga y califíquenos en su plataforma favorita de podcasts para recibir notificaciones cuando salga un nuevo episodio! Cuéntenos que otros temas le gustaría que cubriéramos visitando parkinson.org/podcastencuesta.

Historically and even today, Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a clinical diagnosis, wherein a physician observes signs of the disease and an individual reports symptoms. In routine practice, there is no blood test, other biomarker, or machine to make the diagnosis or to track progression of the disease. But given advances in computing power and through computer analysis of massive amounts of data, artificial intelligence (AI) may add a valuable tool to the diagnostic process. In one form of AI, a computer analyzes a stream of input data to discern patterns that represent an outcome of interest.

A recent study used AI to non-invasively collect and analyze data on breathing patterns, using one night of breathing signals from 7,671 individuals with PD as they slept. One of the co-authors of the study was Aleksander Videnovic, MD, MS of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, where he is Chief of the Division of Sleep Medicine. The hospital is a Parkinson’s Foundation Center of Excellence. In this episode, he explains how the study was done, its findings, and how AI may be useful for diagnosis of PD, gauging its severity, following its progression, and possibly, in the future, assessing risk of PD before its clinical diagnosis.

“Off” episodes can become a troubling aspect of Parkinson’s disease (PD), especially as the disease progresses. These are periods in the day when the effect of levodopa medication wears off, either suddenly or gradually, with a return of motor or non-motor symptoms.

The good news is that there are several ways to try to minimize “off” episodes, including medication timing, medication adjustments, and add-on medications. In this podcast episode, Dr. George Kannarkat, a movement disorders fellow at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, a Parkinson’s Foundation Center of Excellence, discusses “off” episodes, their causes, strategies that people can use today to minimize them, and what new technologies are here or coming along to help lessen them.

La visión es uno de los sentidos que tenemos que está conectado directamente con el sistema nervioso central. Cuando hay alguna enfermedad neurológica o algún problema que afecta esta área del cerebro, podemos esperar cambios en la visión.

En este episodio, hablamos con el doctor Juan Ramírez-Castañeda, profesor asociado de neurología en la University of Texas at San Antonio y director del programa de la enfermedad de Parkinson y otros trastornos del movimiento, acerca de estos cambios en la vista relacionados con el Parkinson.

El doctor Ramírez-Castañeda explica cuáles son los síntomas visuales más comunes para las personas con Parkinson, como visión doble, ojos resecos, problemas con la percepción de profundidad y alucinaciones visuales y cómo pueden tratarse los cambios en la visión.

¡Siga y califíquenos en su plataforma favorita de podcasts para recibir notificaciones cuando salga un nuevo episodio! Cuéntenos que otros temas le gustaría que cubriéramos visitando parkinson.org/podcastencuesta.

With Parkinson’s disease (PD), it’s essential to know where to find a movement disorder neurologist, a physical or occupational therapist, social services to help with daily activities, and agencies that can advise on elder issues. When you don’t know that certain services even exist, looking for them is impossible. This is where the Parkinson’s Foundation Helpline can be an essential resource. Helpline staff have broad knowledge about what services may be appropriate to address certain problems, and they can direct callers to these services.

One social worker has described himself like the Yellow Pages. He cannot do everything for his clients, but he acts like a directory of resources that can help them. So, too, is the Parkinson’s Foundation Helpline a valuable compendium of services for many of the needs of people with PD. In this episode, Social Worker Amanda Janicke, LCSW, an information specialist on the Parkinson’s Foundation Helpline, gives insight into what the Helpline can provide, and she provides examples of some agencies that can help people with PD.

An early Parkinson’s diagnosis is the first step to getting Parkinson’s symptoms under control and living well with Parkinson’s. Getting a PD diagnosis is also one of the first obstacles many people in the Black PD community experience.

Research has shown racial disparities in the diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson’s – finding that Black people with PD are diagnosed at a later disease stage than white people and are less likely to be diagnosed compared to other racial and ethnic groups. These differences may be due to Black patients being historically excluded from research and to a range of health disparities, which cause them to systemically experience decreased access to resources and care due to social, economic and environmental disadvantages.

Working with specialists who understand and treat Parkinson’s can help you better manage your symptoms and reduce complications. Since people in the Black community are often less likely to see a PD specialist, awareness of PD in Black communities is essential.

In this episode for Black History Month, we speak with a woman who has been very involved in raising awareness of PD among the Black community. Since her diagnosis, Denise Coley has become engaged in PD organizations. She served on the Parkinson’s Foundation’s People with Parkinson’s Advisory Council, and she is currently the Chair of the Mission and Outreach Committee of the California Parkinson’s Foundation Advisory Council.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) depression may be a biological part of the disease itself, resulting from PD-related changes in brain chemistry. Untreated depression and other mood disorders can have a greater impact on well-being than even common motor symptoms.

Depression affects at least 50 percent of people with PD sometime in the course of their disease, but it is often under-recognized and, therefore, under-treated, even though effective treatments exist, both pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic. Treating depression can be a significant way to improve quality of life.

Veronica Bruno, MD, MPH, a neurologist specializing in movement disorders at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, a Parkinson’s Foundation Center of Excellence, discusses depression, the problem of under-diagnosis, and the benefits of recognition and treatment.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) affects several automatically regulated bodily functions, such as digestion, bowel activity, sweating, and blood pressure control, together known as autonomic functions. Low blood pressure, or hypotension, is common in PD, and high blood pressure (hypertension) can also occur. They may be a result of the disease itself or be caused by some of the medications to treat it. Hypotension, in particular, can be dangerous, leading to dizziness, fainting, falls, and fractures.

Up to 60% of people with PD may experience orthostatic hypotension at some point, which is a drop in blood pressure within three minutes of changing to a more upright position, that is, from sitting to standing or from a lying position to sitting or standing.

In this episode, Jeni Bednarek, RN, BSN, ACRP-CP, nurse team coordinator and associate director of education of the Parkinson Center of Oregon in the Parkinson’s Center and Movement Disorders Program of the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, a Parkinson’s Foundation Center of Excellence, discusses several ways for individuals with PD to cope with blood pressure problems, including pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic methods, as well as working with their health care providers to reach a good blood pressure balance.

Researchers are accumulating evidence about how the environment affects our health and our diseases – both our internal and external environments. A significant part of our internal environment is the gut microbiome, that is, the bacteria, fungi, and viruses that naturally inhabit our intestinal tracts. The external environment is everything around us that we eat, inhale, or come into contact with, including industrial chemicals and pesticides.

Studies have shown that people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) harbor distinct gut microbiomes. Environmental exposures and genetic factors can affect the composition of the microbiome. Exposure to pesticides is a leading environmental risk for many neurological diseases, including PD. Tim Sampson, PhD, a cell biologist at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, a Parkinson’s Foundation Center of Excellence, received one of the Foundation’s Stanley Fahn Junior Faculty Awards to study how genetics and Parkinson’s-linked pesticides affect the gut microbiome. The aim is to see how these interactions may trigger Parkinson’s symptoms within the gut as well as those originating in the brain, with a goal of gaining insight at the earliest stages of the disease to better prevent PD and develop new therapeutic targets.