April Recognized As Parkinson's Awareness Month

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"In the United States there is an estimated 1.5 million Americans living with [James Parkinson]'s today," said Donald Robin Ph.D., president of the AAPSG. "In San Antonio there are approximately 5,000 people living with Parkinson's. Ninety percent of all those living with Parkinson's disease develop a form of speech disorder."

Researchers believe that a new technique called Deep-Brain Stimulation (DBS) has made remarkable strikes in the care of Parkinson's patients. DBS evolved out of surgeries in which doctors use heat probes to burn and permanently damage small regions of the brain -in the case of Parkinson's, regions where patients' tremors and quakes are known to arise. These same brain areas are targeted with DBS, but instead of destroying tissue, doctors implant slender electrodes that pump steady pulses of electricity -think of it as a sort of pacemaker for the brain.

AAPSG also announced that APDA has launched a Parkinson's Rehab Resource Center based at Boston University's Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. The center has licensed physical therapists that can answer questions regarding exercise programs, free educational materials and the benefits of exercise for people with Parkinson's disease.

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April Recognized As Parkinson's Awareness Month

On April 6, the Alamo Area Parkinson' s Support Group (AAPSG) declared the month of April as Parkinson' s Disease Awareness Month to bring attention to a sickness that affects more than 1.5 million Americans and 5,000 in San...

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