Stanford PD Community Blog

On November 13th, the American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) hosted a webinar on the effects Parkinson’s has on vision- fun fact: did you know that dopamine plays a role in your retinas as well as your brain? The webinar was hosted by Jennifer Gillick, the program director of the Northwest chapter of the APDA, and the special guest was Dr. Steven Hamilton. After Dr. Hamilton presented an informative overview of PD’s effects on vision, Jennifer relayed to him questions from the audience. 

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Parkinson Society British Columbia hosted a webinar on Dementia in Parkinson’s.  The speaker was geriatrician Naaz Parmar.

Just because you have PD doesn’t mean you can’t also have dementia. In this talk Dr. Parmar covered the definition of dementia, when should you have an assessment and what does that look like, the different types of dementia and finally, treatments.  Her argument about getting an early, accurate diagnosis​ for cognitive or memory changes is compelling.

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Parkinson & Movement Disorder Alliance offered a webinar in early November on driving and road safety with Parkinson’s disease (PD). The speaker was Dr. Ergun Uc, a professor of neurology at the University of Iowa and movement disorder specialist with the Iowa City Veteran Affairs. He discussed research into how PD has affected their driving, and ways to make sure drivers with PD can be safe on the road.

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The Multiple System Atrophy Coalition hosted a two-day conference in late October on various aspects of multiple system atrophy (MSA), which is a disorder similar to Parkinson’s disease (PD). (MSA is called an atypical parkinsonism disorder.) One of the talks, presented by Katie Kompoliti, MD, a movement disorder specialist at Rush University, focused on neurogenic orthostatic hypotension (nOH), which can occur in PD as well. Neurogenic orthostatic hypotension refers to a neurological disorder causing a large decrease in blood pressure when a person stands after sitting or lying down. 

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