Even before people with Parkinson’s disease experience motor symptoms that include stiffness or tremors, they may have problems with their blood pressure and cognitive issues that affect their judgment and reasoning ability. At Toronto’s Sunnybrook Research Institute, Bradley MacIntosh, a neuroimaging scientist, is using imaging technology to try to identify people with these early symptoms … Read more

Every 90 minutes, during periods of sleep marked by rapid eye movements (REM), most people lie paralyzed, breathing and dreaming. As we age, though, some of us lose that paralysis during REM sleep and begin to act out our dreams – sometimes violently. At the Université de Montréal, Dr. Jacques Montplaisir, a psychiatrist and neurobiologist, … Read more

Making connections is not only important for people’s emotional well-being – it is also critical for healthy brains. As researchers are now discovering, the synapses, or the connections that convey signals and information from one neuron to another, may hold clues about what causes Parkinson’s disease. At the University of Montreal, molecular biologist Charles Ducrot … Read more

It’s no surprise that pharmacists are an important member of the health care team for a person with Parkinson’s. Pharmacists advise them about their medications, potential side effects and possible adverse interactions with other medications. Taking medication as prescribed and on time is an important factor in living well with this degenerative brain disease. With … Read more

Mitochondria, the energy-producing building blocks in cells, are essential to keeping those cells healthy and functioning. Researchers know that having defective mitochondria is a trait that several neurodegenerative diseases share, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. At McGill University, Professor Siegfried Hekimi is honing in on a molecule called ubiquinone, also known as Co-enzyme Q (CoQ). … Read more

In pouring rain or brilliant sunshine; on a lakeside trail or inside a hockey arena; no matter the weather or location, once again Parkinson SuperWalk inspired thousands of everyday heroes and offered hope to every Canadian living with Parkinson’s disease. Each day, more than 25 people will learn they have Parkinson’s, and the Parkinson SuperWalk … Read more

By Jean Morris On her 62nd birthday my mother Helen Morris learned that my father had irreversible bowel cancer and that he may have a year to live. It was during the remaining 50 weeks of my father’s life that we began to notice the deterioration in my mother’s health. My mom had grown up … Read more

For most people with a classic form of Parkinson’s disease, medication helps control their symptoms.  At least two other progressive brain disorders have similar symptoms, though, and the same medication isn’t as effective – but researchers can’t yet distinguish between the diseases. At the University of Toronto and the Centre for Mental Health and Addiction, … Read more