From May 4 through May 6, the American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) is hosting a three-day Ask the Expert session on Smart Patients, its online Parkinson’s disease (PD) community. Dr. Rebecca Gilbert, APDA’s Chief Mission Officer, will answer questions from community members about all aspects of PD, including testing, diagnosis, symptom management, surgical treatments, and working with your healthcare team.
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Canadian artist with Parkinson’s Barbara Salsberg Mathews has created a set of illustrations to place Parkinson’s caregivers under the spotlight. One of her illustrations is a local Morgan Hill couple, the Coleys. The artist says, “Denise Coley (diagnosed 2018), lives with Parkinson’s…and often struggles with appetite. Her husband, Bernard Coley, creatively prepares ‘showcase plates’ to entice her to eat, proving that sometimes, you taste with your eyes first.” See the illustration of the Coleys and others.
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Two neurologists say environmental risks are a major culprit. Take action to help protect your brain today
Parkinson’s disease can affect anyone, it’s true. Your personal risk is based on a combination of your genes and environmental factors. But having certain genes that raise risk doesn’t guarantee you’ll one day have the disease. More than just a disease that simply “happens” to you, mounting evidence suggests that the progressive neurodegenerative condition is largely driven by risk factors that — with a little knowledge and planning — can be minimized.
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This recent “Washington Post” article is about the “gut-first” hypothesis of Parkinson’s disease (PD) — the idea that a high percentage of PD cases start in the gut and that abnormal protein spreads from the gut to the brain. Evidence is that constipation can begin more than a decade before motor symptoms of PD. And abnormal proteins can be found almost the whole length of the digestive tract.
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Register now for “Employment and Parkinson’s: Rights and Protections,” which will be of particular interest to the Young Onset Parkinson’s Disease (YOPD) community. This is the second installment of a three-part virtual lecture series featuring expert speakers and people with Parkinson’s, who address both practical and emotional challenges of YOPD.
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