Stanford PD Community Blog

The Northwest Chapter of the American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) is hosting a webinar on dementia and cognitive changes in Parkinson's Disease (PD).  The speaker is Nancy Isenberg, MD, medical director, Center for Healthy Aging.  The webinar is scheduled for Friday, May 14, 10:30am PT. Dr. Isenberg has a special interest in healthy aging, evidence-based, comprehensive treatments of dementia, frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer disease, cognitive, behavioral and memory disorders. Register here. The webinar will be held on Zoom.  Once you register, a link will be sent to you. A recording of the webinar will be posted to the APDA YouTube channel.

In early April, the Parkinson’s Foundation hosted the webinar “Understanding Thinking Changes in Parkinson’s” with speaker Dr. Jennifer Goldman.  Dr. Goldman addressed cognitive changes in people with Parkinson’s Disease (PD).  It is important to note that not everyone with PD will experience cognitive symptoms.

In late March, the American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) hosted a webinar on speech with speech-language pathologist Lisa Sommers. Lisa described the changes -- sometimes subtle --in breath support, voice production, speed and accuracy, inflection of voice, facial expressions and swallowing.  She noted that about 90% of people with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) will experience these kinds of changes in communication.

In mid-March, the Parkinson Association of the Rockies hosted a webinar on “Sleep and Fatigue in Parkinson Disease” with Dr. Alexander Baumgartner. He is a movement disorder fellow at the University of Colorado’s Movement Disorders Center.  Dr. Baumgartner indicated that as many as 90% of those with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) have a sleep disorder.  He contrasted sleepiness and fatigue.  Sleepiness is the tendency or ability to fall asleep. Fatigue is similar, and is associated with excessive tiredness and mental or physical exertion. 

In late March, the Parkinson Society British Columbia hosted clinical counselor Courtney Doherty to speak on “Mental Health and Parkinson’s.”  She described depression, anxiety, and apathy -- all common changes in mood in Parkinson’s disease (PD).  And she provided extensive information for how these changes can be treated, particularly in non-pharmacological ways. 

In mid-March, the American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) hosted a webinar titled “Spring Into Exercise: Put Your Best Foot Forward.”The webinar featured three physical therapists from the APDA’s Center for Neurorehabilitation at Boston University addressing exercise for Parkinson’s disease (PD). 

In mid-March, Columbia University’s Taub Institute hosted the webinar “Palliative Care and Hospice Care Planning” with neurologist Dr. Reena Gottesman. Dr. Gottesman described when palliative care and hospice care are appropriate, and focused on palliative care and hospice care for those with dementia and advanced dementia.

In early March, the Parkinson & Movement Disorder (PMD) Alliance hosted movement disorder specialist Dr. James Morley on a webinar on self-care, exercise and motivation. Though the topic was described as “Motivation and Parkinson’s” the focus of Dr. Morley’s talk was about self-care and how to motivate yourself to exercise after receiving a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease (PD).