Stanford PD Community Blog

Caregivers need to have their own support group meetings or gatherings because they need to vent, share, learn tips and resources, and receive support from others walking the same path. Ideally, a caregiver to someone with Parkinson’s Disease can attend a PD-specific caregiver support group. Or someone dealing with Lewy Body Dementia can attend an LBD-specific caregiver support group. And so on. With the pandemic, many support groups have moved to meet virtually while others have gone on hiatus until in-person meetings can occur once again.  Here’s our list of the status of PD and atypical parkinsonism caregiver-only support group meetings in the SF Bay Area, other parts of Northern California, and Central California. 

The Palo Alto Parkinson’s Disease Support Group’s February 2020 meeting featured Dr. Emmanuel During, who specializes in neurology, psychiatry, and sleep medicine at Stanford.  He discussed the various types of sleep disturbances that can occur in Parkinson’s disease (PD), such as insomnia, restless legs syndrome, sleep apnea, and REM sleep behavior disorder, along with available treatments for managing these issues. There was also a question and answer session. We at Stanford Parkinson’s Community Outreach attended the meeting and are sharing our notes. 

The Palo Alto Young Onset Parkinson’s Disease support group’s January 2020 meeting featured the medical director from the Parkinson’s Institute and Clinical Center, Dr. Kristin Andruska. She discussed what we currently understand about the gut-brain connection and genetic testing for PD. We at Stanford Parkinson’s Community Outreach attended the meeting and are sharing our notes.  

Dr. Kristin Andruska, movement disorder specialist, will be speaking on “Parkinson’s Disease and the Gut” at the October 9th, Palo Alto PD Support Group meeting on Wednesday, October 9th, 2:30-4pm.  This will be the group’s first meeting at Channing House, 850 Webster St., Palo Alto.