Stanford PD Community Blog

Forget the soul — it turns out the eyes may be the best window to the brain. Changes to the retina may foreshadow Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, and researchers say a picture of your eye could assess your future risk of neurodegenerative disease.

Mental health is defined as emotional, psychological and social well-being and is an essential part of everyone’s overall health. It is particularly important to understand mental health as it relates to someone with Parkinson’s disease (PD).

At the start of 2020, an 82 year-old man we'll call Walter was using many of the strategies that we have been discussing throughout this series Reducing Falls For Older Adults -- staying active, managing his chronic conditions, and exercising to improve his balance.

A biomarker is a measurable characteristic in the body that indicates that a particular disease is present.  So, for Parkinson's Disease (PD), this would be proof that someone has PD.  Right now, the only way to confirm if someone has had PD is through brain donation.  The American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) recently published a list of great resources on PD biomarkers. 

The American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) published an update with the latest news about the COVID-19 and Parkinson's Disease (PD).  The update includes information about the COVID-19 vaccine and PD.

Here's to brighter days and happier tomorrows. Happy New Year!

The Family Ties star was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson's disease in 1991. He says that if he doesn't know if he can do something, he fakes it — a strategy that works 80 percent of the time.

"[Available] data indicate:  1. The approved mRNA-based vaccines and the vector vaccines under development induce immunization through mechanisms that do not interact with the neurodegenerative process in PD. ... 2. ...the types or incidence of side effects in patients with PD have not been different than in the general population. 3. ...COVID-19 vaccination does not interfere with the current therapies of PD.  4. ...more data will be available in the near future for further analysis of the impact of these vaccines on PD."

Since Parkinson's disease (PD) is known as a movement disorder, the non-motor symptoms can often be overlooked.  Common non-motor symptoms can include depression and anxiety, sleep issues, fatigue, gastrointestinal problems, sexual issues, and more.  The American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) recently published a list of resources on these non-motor symptoms in PD. 

People who lived alone or who had few social contacts were up to 24 percent more likely to have falls than their socially connected peers.