You’ve just been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (PD) – now what?!? Receiving a PD diagnosis can be confusing, overwhelming, and frightening, leaving you with many unanswered questions, or perhaps not even knowing what questions to ask in the first place.
APDA is here to help. In this episode of Dr. Gilbert Hosts, we spoke with Dr. Stephanie Bissonnette, Movement Disorders Specialist at Boston Medical Center in Boston, MA, about what you need to know when you are first diagnosed with PD so you can better understand your disease and take a proactive approach to your health care.
2:08 Dr. Bissonnette’s presentation
11:32 Do you recommend a DaTscan to have as a baseline? Why isn’t a DaTscan considered a conclusive test for Parkinson’s disease?
14:10 How applicable was your talk to atypical parkinsonian syndromes?
15:27 Does it make sense to delay starting medication for PD?
17:23 What symptoms can you expect to be helped by medication?
18:45 Is there any way to know what the progression of a person’s PD will be like? What about if the person has young onset PD?
19:58 What percentage of people who start medication have side effects like nausea?
21:50 Can you increase your medication on bad days? Do medications lose their effect over time?
24:02 Are there benefits to figuring out the genetic and environmental causes of my PD?
26:12 What is LSVT and should it be done early in PD?
28:05 My doctor only sees me once every 6 months - is that enough?
28:56 My doctor wants to see me every 5 weeks - what do you think about that?
29:45 What percentage of PD patients get dyskinesias?
31:49 I exercise and take a small amount of medication and feel better than before my diagnosis. Could this be regression of PD?
32:53 Should newly diagnosed people with PD join clinical trials?
34:44 How much should you push yourself to exercise if you are having dystonia or pain?
36:22 Why do i forget things more than ever? Is this dementia?
39:03 How often does dementia develop in people with PD?
40:00 What promising research is being done now?
42:11 There are other symptoms of PD that you have not mentioned - e.g. voice, vision - are they part of PD and how do I get these symptoms assessed?
Let's Stay Connected
1) SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube Channel to stay informed about other APDA videos.
2) Turn On YouTube Notifications to get alerts whenever we go live or upload new content.
3) Connect with APDA on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn at @APDAparkinsons.
