Young Parkinson's of Indiana

02/03/2026

This is great!

12/18/2025

IU Health is piloting a new program designed to help patients with Parkinson's. The Parkinson's choir helps strengthen their voices.

12/06/2025

Practical ways to process the grief so it doesn’t stay trapped in your body. See yesterday’s post for context.

These are the things that work best for people with Parkinson’s + trauma load:

A) Vagus-Nerve Oriented Breathwork (Short, Simple, Doable)
• 4-second inhale
• 6–8 second exhale
• 2-second pause

Do 2 minutes. Not more.
Long sessions overstimulate your system.

B ) Somatic Micro-Movement Instead of Stretching

Parkinson’s + trauma freeze responds better to:
• slow ankle circles
• tiny wrist rotations
• pelvic tilts
• seated spinal swaying

Small movements tell the brain:
“I am not trapped.”

C) “Labeling” Instead of Storytelling

When emotions surge, use single-word labeling, which decreases limbic activation:
• “Anger.”
• “Grief.”
• “Fear.”
• “Alone.”
• “Overwhelmed.”

It sounds simple, but it literally reduces the amygdala load.

D) Heat

Heat:
• reduces rigidity
• increases dopamine release
• calms the sympathetic system

E) Co-regulation Through Sound

Low, rhythmic sound helps your brainstem regulate:
• humming
• gentle chanting
• low music
• 60–70 bpm rhythms

This bypasses the thinking brain and resets the autonomic system.

What have you tried that works for you?

12/05/2025

Do you ever feel like your Parkinson’s symptoms are worse after emotional stress or trauma?

Parkinson’s doesn’t just affect dopamine for movement.
Dopamine is also essential for:
• emotional regulation
• stress buffering
• motivation and reward
• the “braking system” of the nervous system

When you have Parkinson’s, every stressor — emotional, physical, relational — hits your system harder because you have less dopamine available to buffer and metabolize it.

This means:
• emotional overwhelm → physical rigidity
• suppressed anger → increased muscle tension
• grief load → autonomic freeze
• relational uncertainty → tremors and locking
• trauma triggers → full-body “shutdown” or stiffness episodes

Your nervous system has less room to absorb emotional intensity.
So instead of processing normally, the body somatizes the overload.

That’s why your symptoms spike during:
• trauma activation
• grief waves
• relational uncertainty
• attachment threat
• suppressed anger
• any “freeze” response

This isn’t “in your head.”
It’s neurology meeting trauma physiology.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post on what to do about it!

11/21/2025

There is no single root cause for Parkinson’s.

There is one HUGE cause that you have more control over than you realize.

Addressing exposure to toxins is within your control!

Focus on the first 3 routes of entry pictured in this infographic. Inhalation, ingestion, and skin.

Below are some things you can do to reduce your exposure to toxins.

It is not a comprehensive list, but rather a place to start.

INHALATION: While you can’t control air pollution outside your home, you can:

🧼 Stop using chemical cleaning products, especially those with “fragrance”

🕯️ Ditch candles that are made from anything other than soy or beeswax and scented with anything other than essential oils

💨 Remove plug-in air fresheners, scented furnace filters, potpourri, sprays and opt for the use of essential oil diffusers instead (note: not all essential oils are safe to inhale)

INGESTION: You can absolutely control what you put in your mouth. Protect the gut-brain axis by:

🫙 Switching from plastic to paper, ceramic, glass or stainless steel food storage (also, stopping the practice of microwaving in plastic)

🍭 Eliminating artificial sweeteners, added sugar and high fructose corn syrup

🐜 Reducing ingested synthetic pesticides by buying organic veggies and fruit when possible and always washing your produce with a bit of diluted vinegar and baking soda

🍟 Avoiding ultra-processed foods, fast-food, shelf-stable foods, boxed, packaged and canned foods with unsafe preservatives

🥃 Limiting or eliminating alcohol intake

SKIN: You can also control what goes on your skin. Protect your largest organ by doing the following:

🧴 Choose toxin and artificial-fragrance free soaps, body lotions and hair products

💄 Use clean makeup brands that are committed to EU safety standards

🧺 Use non-toxic, unscented laundry soap

👚 Wear clothing made of natural fabrics

There is no way to eliminate all of the toxicity from our lives.

It is within your control, however, to greatly reduce your exposure, which is thought to have an impact on the rate of neurodegeneration in both Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

After teaching on environmental health for three days, I came across this article in my PubMed alerts this morning. They provided a fantastic illustration of how environmental inputs have a ripple effect on the body and how we physiologically alter cells and systems as a result. This is a keeper!

Image credit: PubMedKulcsárová, K., Piel, J.H.A. & Schaeffer, E. Environmental toxins in neurodegeneration - a narrative review. Neurol. Res. Pract. 7, 93 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42466-025-00452-6.

10/30/2025

We know exercise and clean eating habits definitely do not hurt, and they may be more helpful than anyone has ever realized!

Researchers say exercise and innovative treatments may help manage Parkinson's symptoms and delay disease progression, while a Mediterranean-like diet may delay its onset by up to 17 years. https://tinyurl.com/yaswxkkc

09/29/2025

Exercise is the best medicine!

07/11/2025

I’ve been saying this for years. What you eat and drink matters greatly because your Microbiome impacts your PD.

https://www.facebook.com/share/12BFAB5451a/?mibextid=wwXIfr

According to a new study, changes in the gut may impact progression. Saeed Shoaie, PhD, the study's lead, said, “Our findings suggest that promoting a healthy microbiome through consistent oral care, a balanced diet, and potentially targeted probiotic interventions could support improved disease management in Parkinson’s."

Check out the story from Parkinson's News Today: https://loom.ly/MDCJdgQ

05/07/2025

What you eat matters!

https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000213562?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR5gxH9VuRpYKpU0p8oNhC1hIQx2-wst6Yr_4DtyBv4fMwpoCTPPkS3Rwiid2w_aem_WHL5XesQcqqo9-l2dS67Cw

Background and ObjectivesConsumption of ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) has been associated with a higher risk of various chronic diseases, but its relation to prodromal Parkinson disease (PD) remains unclear. We aimed to assess the association between long-...

10/14/2024

“People with young onset Parkinson's disease (YOPD) are often married or have young kids or they’re single and still dating. They’re not going home and putting their feet up after work; they’re getting kids’ lunches ready and going to PTA meetings and they’re in the prime of their careers," Anna Grill, the Founder of the Young Onset Parkinson's Network (YOPN) said.

PMD Alliance and YOPN have joined forces to offer lifetime support for those living with YOPD and their care partners. Here's the full story:

Together, PMD Alliance and YOPN will be the first and last stop for those affected by Young Onset Parkinson Disease (YOPD).

09/15/2024

70+% of PD is triggered by environmental factors/chemical toxins….

The “Parkinson’s Belt” is a series of regions in the U.S. with unusually high rates of the disease. Some scientists believe that environmental factors play a major role in who gets Parkinson’s.

05/02/2024

The more ways you move your body, the better!