Stanford PD Community Blog

For more than two decades, innovative program has focused on ‘what people with Parkinson’s can do, not what they can’t do.’

“American Ninja Warrior” contestant Jimmy Choi was 27 when he was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson’s disease after a routine medical exam. Today, Choi, 50, is an adviser to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research who champions physical fitness and works to inspire others via public speaking and social media posts.

A small study found that depression rates dropped after each dance class, with significant improvements that persisted for eight months.

The Parkinson’s Foundation published a new article in the December issue of The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety titled “Protecting Parkinson’s Patients: Hospital Care Standards to Avoid Preventable Harm.” The article identifies sustainable solutions to improve care in the hospital for people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and details how these solutions may be generalized to develop a practical, disease-agnostic care model for all hospital and health systems that wish to avoid preventable harm. 

There’s still a lot we don’t know about how Parkinson’s disease develops. But one lifestyle intervention already has strong evidence behind it.