April is recognized as Parkinson’s Awareness Month, a time to raise awareness about Parkinson’s disease and support those living with the condition.
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder that affects movement, often causing tremors and balance issues. Kristin Engels, Director of Therapy at Franklin General Hospital in Hampton, tells RadioOnTheGo News there are several early warning signs people should watch for.
“In the world of Parkinson’s, there’s a whole array of symptoms. No two patients are quite the same, but anything that would affect movement could be a symptom. A lot of times the classic thing that we think of is tremors. We’ve heard of tremors with Parkinson’s and a lot of people do have tremors with Parkinson’s. We also might see kind of slowness of movement, difficulty with balance. You might be finding that you’re having more stiffness in the morning, feeling more fatigued, your voice may become more soft or you might have a hard time producing sounds, maybe difficulty swallowing. You might find that your handwriting or fine motor skills are getting more difficult and your handwriting might become a lot smaller. So kind of a whole array of symptoms.”
Engels says early diagnosis and ongoing therapy can help manage symptoms and improve quality of life.
“What we do know for sure is that exercise and just staying moving and active is really beneficial for Parkinson’s. It can help to reverse some of the signs and symptoms that you’re having of Parkinson’s. It can help to slow the progression of the disease. So targeted exercise through physical therapy, occupational therapy, or other programs that exist, whether you’re working out at your local gym, there’s programs such as Rock Steady Boxing, which are particularly designed for people with Parkinson’s disease. So staying active and doing the, you know, exercise is a really big part of it.”
Awareness efforts throughout the month aim to educate the public, encourage early detection, and highlight available resources for patients and families. Engels says there are plenty of resources locally to take advantage of.
“We do have a Parkinson’s support group here at the hospital that we would love to have anybody who is affected by Parkinson’s or has Parkinson’s themselves or a family member that they could come and attend that and be able to talk to other people who have the disease. Sometimes Parkinson’s has a really tough mental health part of it because it is a progressive disease and the dopamine also affects our feel-good hormones and sometimes we deal with some more depression or not feeling like getting out the house. So finding some social interaction and sometimes finding people who are also struggling with the disease or suffering from the disease. It’s a great way to feel better about things.”
The Parkinson’s Support Group meets every third Wednesday of the month at 10:30 a.m. at the hospital. The Parkinson’s Foundation reports that nearly 90,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with Parkinson’s each year.
Full interview below
