The banner headline on the homepage of the Michael J. Fox Foundation’s website reads “Breaking News: Parkinson’s Disease Biomarker Found.” It sounds exciting, but what does it really mean?

Debi Brooks, CEO and cofounder of The Michael J. Fox Foundation, joins Larry Gifford for a chat about what she says is the most important finding the Foundation has discovered in its history. It is already changing the way researchers recruit for some studies. It will lead to faster diagnosis, more customized and personalized treatment, faster, cheaper, more targeted pharmaceuticals, and ultimately it is another step closer to stopping Parkinson's in its tracks.

Important Links

The Lancet Neurology Article

The Michael J. Fox Foundation Coverage of the Biomarker

PPMI: The Study That's Changing Everything

STAT Article featuring Michael J. Fox's reaction

Michael J. Fox Op-Ed for STAT

The Presenting Partner is Parkinson Canada... where people with Parkinson’s are at the centre of everything they do. Parkinson Canada funds critical research, provides information and support, increases awareness and advocates for improved healthcare outcomes for people with Parkinson's across Canada. Learn more at Parkinson.ca

Thank you to our promotional partners

Spotlight YOPD

PD Avengers

World Parkinson Congress 2023 in Barcelona

Trichloroethylene (TCE). You cannot see it or smell it. It could be in the air you breath, the water you drink, and the food you eat. It is a carcinogen and is linked to clusters of cancer and Parkinson’s. In Journal of Parkinson’s Disease, Dr. Ray Dorsey at the University of Rochester and eleven colleagues have published a research article asking the question “Is Trichlorethylene an invisible cause of Parkinson’s?” The authors go on to make a convincing case.

Dr. Dorsey joins the podcast to explain the dangers of TCE, how it seeps into ground water, your home, schools, and office buildings, how to protect yourself, and where you can look to see if a TCE Superfund site is near where you live. 

KEY LINKS

BOOK: ENDING PARKINSON’S DISEASE; A PRESCRIPTION FOR ACTION

JOURNAL OF PARKINSON’S DISEASE (SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL) 

Trichloroethylene: An Invisible Cause of Parkinson’s Disease?

THE GUARDIAN (UK)

Rates of Parkinson’s disease are exploding. A common chemical may be to blame (TCE)

Secret files suggest chemical giant feared weedkiller’s link to Parkinson’s disease (Paraquat)

NEW YORK NEWSDAY (NY/USA)

A NEWSDAY INVESTIGATION: The Grumman Plume; Decades of Deceit

CBS MORNING (USA)

Service members and families affected by toxic water at Camp Lejeune Marine base still seeking justice decades later

LOS ANGELES TIMES (CA/USA)

Is a common industrial chemical fueling the spread of Parkinson’s disease?

THE TORONTO STAR (ON/CAN)

Dry cleaning chemical linked to Parkinson’s in international study (2011/Canada)

DAYTON DAILY NEWS (OH/USA)

VOICES: How toxic industrial spills have contaminated our groundwater

EPA FACT SHEET | TRICHLOROETHYLENE EPA SUPERFUND HOME PAGE  WIKIPEDIA

CANADIAN sct.gc.ca/fcsi-rscf/home-accueil-eng.aspx">FEDERAL CONTAMINATED SITES INVENTORY (FCSI) sites.html">CONTAMINATED SITES HOMEPAGE

Much gratitude for your content

A Civil Action: Touchstone Pictures, Paramount Pictures, and Wildwood Enterprises, Inc 

SaferChemicals on YouTube WATCH “TOXIC CHEMICAL LOBBY: EXCLUSIVE LEAKED FOOTAGE”

EMAIL Larry and Rebecca: ParkinsonsPod@curiouscast.ca

Have questions, comments, or a story idea? 

We would love you to click here and leave a message https://www.speakpipe.com/WhenLifeGivesYouParkinsons

Follow us, Larry & Rebecca Gifford 

Twitter: @ParkinsonsPod

Facebook: Facebook.com/ParkinsonsPod

Instagram: @parkinsonspod

Thanks to Curiouscast

Dila Velazquez – Story Producer

Greg Schott – Sound Design

Our Presenting Partner is Parkinson Canada. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s? You are not alone. Contact presenting partner Parkinson Canada http://www.parkinson.ca/, call the toll free hotline 1-800-565-3000 or on Twitter you can message @ParkinsonCanada.

Thanks also to our content and promotional partners 

The Michael J. Fox Foundation’s landmark study Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI)  

PD Avengers – We are building a global alliance to end Parkinson’s. Join us. 

World Parkinson Congress 2023 – It’s time to make your congress and hotel registrations. Details on the website. 

Spotlight YOPD – One of the only Parkinson’s organizations dedicated to raising awareness for Young Onset Parkinson’s disease and funds for the Cure Parkinson’s Trust. 

Lithium is more than a drug, it’s the third element on the Periodic Table of Elements. Symbol is LI. It’s lightest metal known to mankind. Lithium-ion batters are used in electric cars. Lithium is also present in vaping devices, many personal electronics such as cell phones, tablets, and laptops, E-Bikes, electric toothbrushes, tools, hoverboards, scooters, and for solar power backup storage. Its origins can be traced back to the Big Bang. 

For 70 years it’s successfully been used to treat bi-polar disease. Now there’s hope it could be game changing for Parkinson’s disease. Tom Guttuso Jr., MD is a professor of Neurology at the University of Buffalo and Co Director of the Movement Disorder. His new book, titled the Promise of Lithium: How an Over-The-Counter Supplement May Prevent and Slow Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.” Dr. Guttuso joins the pod to discuss the potential of Lithium and stopping Parkinson’s. 

Much Gratitude for your music:

Nirvana Lithium

Evanescence Lithium

Pink We’ve Got Scurvy from the album Sponge Bob’s Greatest Hits

The Steve Miller Band Fly Like an Eagle

EMAIL Larry and Rebecca: ParkinsonsPod@curiouscast.ca

Have questions, comments, or a story idea? 

We would love you to click here and leave a message https://www.speakpipe.com/WhenLifeGivesYouParkinsons

Follow us, Larry & Rebecca Gifford 

Twitter: @ParkinsonsPod

Facebook: Facebook.com/ParkinsonsPod

Instagram: @parkinsonspod

KEY LINKS 

BOOK: The Promise of Lithium: How an Over-the-Counter Supplement May Prevent and Slow Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease

Thanks to Curiouscast

Dila Velazquez – Story Producer

Our Presenting Partner is Parkinson Canada. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s? You are not alone. Contact presenting partner Parkinson Canada http://www.parkinson.ca/, call the toll free hotline 1-800-565-3000 or on Twitter you can message @ParkinsonCanada.

Thanks also to our content and promotional partners 

The Michael J. Fox Foundation’s Parkinson’s IQ + You Events

PD Avengers – We are building a global alliance to end Parkinson’s. Join us. 

World Parkinson Congress 2023 – It’s time to make your congress and hotel registrations. Details on the website. 

Spotlight YOPD – One of the only Parkinson’s organizations dedicated to raising awareness for Young Onset Parkinson’s disease and funds for the Cure Parkinson’s Trust. 

January 17 marks the 81st anniversary of the birth of one of the greatest Parkinson’s advocates of all time, Muhammad Ali. In this episode, we learn more about the champ’s journey from his eldest daughter Maryum “May May” Ali – the stigma her father dealt with after his diagnosis, when she first noticed changes in her dad, struggles with speaking and medication, and how he improved his quality of life. 

In addition to exploring Ali’s Parkinson’s legacy, Dr. Michael S. Okun, the head of neurology for the University of Florida Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, sheds light on Ali’s PD diagnosis. Okun and two other neurologists, the final three neurologists to treat Ali over the course of many years, published an article in October 2022 to clear up misinformation about his diagnosis. Ali was a young onset Parkinson’s disease patient that responds to Levodopa which is different if his Parkinson’s onset due to his boxing career and punches to the head.  

EMAIL Larry and Rebecca: ParkinsonsPod@curiouscast.ca

Have questions, comments, or a story idea? 

We would love you to click here and leave a message https://www.speakpipe.com/WhenLifeGivesYouParkinsons

Follow us, Larry & Rebecca Gifford 

Twitter: @ParkinsonsPod

Facebook: Facebook.com/ParkinsonsPod

Instagram: @parkinsonspod

KEY LINKS 

Maryum “May May” Ali - website

RESOURCES

Muhammad Ali and Young-Onset Idiopathic Parkinson Disease—The Missing Evidence

Thanks to Curiouscast

Dila Velazquez – Story Producer

Our Presenting Partner is Parkinson Canada. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s? You are not alone. Contact presenting partner Parkinson Canada http://www.parkinson.ca/, call the toll free hotline 1-800-565-3000 or on Twitter you can message @ParkinsonCanada.

Thanks also to our content and promotional partners 

The Michael J. Fox Foundation’s Parkinson’s IQ + You Events

PD Avengers – We are building a global alliance to end Parkinson’s. Join us. 

World Parkinson Congress 2023 – It’s time to make your congress and hotel registrations. Details on the website. 

Spotlight YOPD – One of the only Parkinson’s organizations dedicated to raising awareness for Young Onset Parkinson’s disease and funds for the Cure Parkinson’s Trust. 

One of the dark symptoms of Parkinson’s is apathy. Describing apathy is a bit like describing what it feels like when a dementor in the Harry Potter books kisses a character – the ability to drain happiness and hope from its victims. When a person with Parkinson’s spirals into a an apathetic state they lack motivation and lose interest in activities they used to enjoy. To experience apathy is like being in a bubble of indifference. You stop caring about yourself or other people in your life with a total void of emotion.

In this episode we hear firsthand from Jeff and Kristin Krantz what it’s like as a person with Parkinson’s living in a apathetic state and how it impacts the care partner and others in the family. Dr. Bradley McDaniel offers advice on how to escape apathy through pursuit of your meaning in life. 

EMAIL Larry and Rebecca: ParkinsonsPod@curiouscast.ca

Have questions, comments, or a story idea? 

We would love you to click here and leave a message https://www.speakpipe.com/WhenLifeGivesYouParkinsons

Follow us, Larry & Rebecca Gifford 

Twitter: @ParkinsonsPod

Facebook: Facebook.com/ParkinsonsPod

Instagram: @parkinsonspod

KEY LINKS 

Dr. Bradley McDaniels https://hps.unt.edu/bradley-mcdaniels-phd-crc 

Resources Mentioned

Ending Parkinson’s Disease book by Ray Dorsey MD, Michael Okun MD, Todd Sherer PhD and Bas Bloem MD, PhD

Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl

The Spirituality of Imperfection Storytelling and the Search for Meaning by Ernest Kurtz and Katherine Ketchum 

Jeff & Kristen Krantz

Thanks to Curiouscast

Dila Velazquez – Story Producer

Our Presenting Partner is Parkinson Canada. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s? You are not alone. Contact presenting partner Parkinson Canada http://www.parkinson.ca/, call the toll free hotline 1-800-565-3000 or on Twitter you can message @ParkinsonCanada.

Thanks also to our content and promotional partners 

The Michael J. Fox Foundation’s Parkinson’s IQ + You Events

PD Avengers – We are building a global alliance to end Parkinson’s. Join us. 

World Parkinson Congress 2023 – It’s time to make your congress and hotel registrations. Details on the website. 

Spotlight YOPD – One of the only Parkinson’s organizations dedicated to raising awareness for Young Onset Parkinson’s disease and funds for the Cure Parkinson’s Trust. 

When John O’Leary was a nine-year-old boy, he was burned on 100% of his body. He was in his garage playing with matches and gasoline—just like he’d had seen the older boys on his block do. A fire exploded, consuming the garage, sending him flying back against the wall and turning his whole world upside down. He talks with Larry & Rebecca about how he was given 1% chance to live. Now, 36-years later, John is living an inspired life. He has two national best-selling books “On Fire” and “In Awe.” he’s a podcast host, an in-demand international speaker and is someone who intimately understands the impact that Parkinson’s can have on a family.

Email Larry and Rebecca: ParkinsonsPod@curiouscast.ca

Have questions, comments, or a story idea?

We would love you to click here and leave a message  https://www.speakpipe.com/WhenLifeGivesYouParkinsons

Follow us, Larry & Rebecca Gifford 

Twitter: @ParkinsonsPod

Facebook: Facebook.com/ParkinsonsPod

Instagram: @parkinsonspod

KEY LINKS

John O’Leary Website www.JohnOLearyInspires.com

Live Inspired Podcast https://johnolearyinspires.com/podcast/

·        Episode featuring Larry & Rebecca Gifford and When Life Gives You Parkinson’s

Books

·        On Fire: The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life

·        In Awe: Rediscover our childlike wonder + unleash inspiration, meaning and joy.

Facebook @JohnOLearyRisingAbove

Instagram @joholeary.inspires

Linked In @John-O-Leary-08b2805

Twitter @JOLearyInspires

Thanks to Curiouscast

Dila Velazquez – Story Producer

Greg Schott – Sound Design

Our Presenting Partner is Parkinson Canada. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s? You are not alone. Contact presenting partner Parkinson Canada http://www.parkinson.ca/, call the toll free hotline 1-800-565-3000 or on Twitter you can message @ParkinsonCanada.

Thanks also to our content and promotional partners

The Michael J. Fox Foundation’s Parkinson’s IQ + You Events

PD Avengers – We are building a global alliance to end Parkinson’s. Join us.

World Parkinson Congress 2023 – It’s time to make your congress and hotel registrations. Details on the website. 

Spotlight YOPD – One of the only Parkinson’s organizations dedicated to raising awareness for Young Onset Parkinson’s disease and funds for the Cure Parkinson’s Trust.  

Kat Hill and Nancy Peate are the authors of Being Well with a Chronic Illness: A Guide to Joy and Resilience with Your Diagnosis. In their book they offer wisdom, language, research-supported guidance and personal stories to help people with Parkinson’s and other chronic conditions navigate their wellness journey. In this episode, Rebecca talks with the authors — who also happen to be good friends — about their own experiences with Parkinson’s and how they have cultivated tools to find joy and resilience. Larry and Rebecca also discuss and offer their reactions to the book.

EMAIL Larry and Rebecca: ParkinsonsPod@curiouscast.ca

Have questions, comments, or a story idea? We would love you to click here and leave a message https://www.speakpipe.com/WhenLifeGivesYouParkinsons

Follow us, Larry & Rebecca Gifford 

Twitter: @ParkinsonsPod

Facebook: Facebook.com/ParkinsonsPod

Instagram: @parkinsonspod

KEY LINKS 

Being Well with Chronic Illness: A Guide to Joy & Resilience with Your Diagnosis

by Kat Kill and Nancy Peate (Paperback and e-Book)

Penguin Random House United States US$18.00 Canada C$23.00 Australia A$32.99

WHSmith (UK) United Kingdom £15.63

PD Lemonade – Kat Hill’s podcast

VIDEO: Advocacy Pyramid ARTICLE: Tom Isaac’s Advocacy Pyramid explained from Grand Challenges 2014

Women’s Parkinson’s Project

Thanks to 

Dila Velazquez – Story Producer

Greg Schott – Sound Design

Our Presenting Partner is Parkinson Canada. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s? You are not alone. Contact presenting partner Parkinson Canada http://www.parkinson.ca/, call the toll free hotline 1-800-565-3000 or on Twitter you can message @ParkinsonCanada.

Thanks also to our content and promotional partners 

The Michael J. Fox Foundation Parkinson’s Podcast hosted by Larry Gifford 

PD Avengers – We are building a global alliance to end Parkinson’s. Join us. 

World Parkinson Congress 2023 – It’s time to make your congress and hotel registrations. Details on the website. 

Spotlight YOPD – One of the only Parkinson’s organizations dedicated to raising awareness for Young Onset Parkinson’s disease and funds for the Cure Parkinson’s Trust. 

Geoff Constable is a PD Avenger and an Ambassador for the World Parkinson Congress 2023 in Barcelona. We met at the last WPC2019 in Kyoto. Like many of us with YOPD, Geoff’s diagnosis was delayed six years as doctors tried to figure out root issue of his symptoms. In 2008, at the age of 50, he finally was able to put a name to the issues he had, Parkinson’s disease.

Geoff spent his teen years sleeping on friends couches and sometimes living on the street. He earned a degree in Naval Architecture and designed 16 Ships for the Royal Australian Navy and spent countless hours battle testing the ships in extreme conditions. 

At 44-years old he talked to his doctor about onsetting symptoms. It took six years to diagnose him with Young Onset Parkinson’s. He was happy to have a name for it, but bummed because there was no cause, no cure, and no standard disease path. 

Listen to how Geoff took his diagnosis of Parkinson’s and discovered his own superpowers on how to incorporate and accept it. Using his own body as vessel, he put himself through battle testing and discovered he was capable of far more than he or his doctors believed possible. 

EMAIL Larry and Rebecca: ParkinsonsPod@curiouscast.ca

Have questions, comments, or a story idea? We would love you to click here and leave a message https://www.speakpipe.com/WhenLifeGivesYouParkinsons

Follow us, Larry & Rebecca Gifford 

Twitter: @ParkinsonsPod

Facebook: Facebook.com/ParkinsonsPod

Instagram: @parkinsonspod

KEY LINKS 

WPC2023 Registration and Hotel

Geoff Constable’s blog

VIDEO: Geoff Constable’s 2022 Moomba performance

Thanks to 

Dila Velazquez – Story Producer

Greg Schott – Sound Design

Our Promotional Partners include: 

Diagnosed with Parkinson’s? You are not alone. Contact presenting partner Parkinson Canada http://www.parkinson.ca/, call the toll free hotline 1-800-565-3000 or on Twitter you can message @ParkinsonCanada.

Thanks also to our content and promotional partners 

The Michael J. Fox Foundation Parkinson’s Podcast hosted by Larry Gifford as featured in the MJFF2021 Year in Review. 

PD Avengers – We are building a global alliance to end Parkinson’s. Join us. 

World Parkinson Congress 2023 – It’s time to make your congress and hotel registrations. Details on the website. 

Spotlight YOPD – One of the only Parkinson’s organizations dedicated to raising awareness for Young Onset Parkinson’s disease and funds for the Cure Parkinson’s Trust. 

Updates on several stories we’ve shared on the podcast. Reactions to the three-minute test to diagnose Parkinson’s. The final 30km on a cross-country bike tour for Parkinson’s leaves bikers spinning their wheels. * We catch up with the Rigid Riders. Plus, Ozzy Osbourne on stage for the first time since his Parkinson’s diagnosis. *Don’t forget to push the donut button. 

EMAIL Larry and Rebecca: ParkinsonsPod@curiouscast.ca

Have questions, comments, or a story idea? We would love you to click here and leave a message https://www.speakpipe.com/WhenLifeGivesYouParkinsons

Follow us, Larry & Rebecca Gifford 

Twitter: @ParkinsonsPod

Facebook: Facebook.com/ParkinsonsPod

Instagram: @parkinsonspod

KEY LINKS 

Spinning Wheels - www.spinningwheelstour.ca 

Spinning Wheels – YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR1_sRarZ_nt6neUqAXNMPw 

Thanks to 

Dila Velazquez – Story Producer

Greg Schott – Sound Design

University of Manchester

Jim Redmond

Steve Iseman

Mike Loghrin

Darlene Richards-Loghrin

BBC Sport

“The Talk” on Talk TV Network

And YOU!

Our Promotional Partners include: 

Diagnosed with Parkinson’s? You are not alone. Contact presenting partner Parkinson Canada http://www.parkinson.ca/, call the toll free hotline 1-800-565-3000 or on Twitter you can message @ParkinsonCanada.

Thanks also to our content and promotional partners 

The Michael J. Fox Foundation Parkinson’s Podcast hosted by Larry Gifford as featured in the MJFF2021 Year in Review. 

PD Avengers – We are building a global alliance to end Parkinson’s. Join us. 

World Parkinson Congress 2023 – It’s time to start thinking about making your plans to join us for #WPC2023 in Barcelona, Spain for the sixth triennial congress. 

Spotlight YOPD – One of the only Parkinson’s organizations dedicated to raising awareness for Young Onset Parkinson’s disease and funds for the Cure Parkinson’s Trust. 

This is a breakthrough, breaking news episode featuring Professor Perdita Barran, University of Manchester and Joy Milne, the woman who can smell Parkinson’s. Today. their latest research paper was published at 12:01am (BST) September 7, 2022. This research has led to a three-minute non-invasive test to determine a positive or negative Parkinson’s diagnosis. Clinical Research will begin within two years at University of Manchester and has the potential to be approved as a diagnostic tool for neurologists before the end of the decade.

LISTEN TO JOY MILNE in previous episodes

June 05, 2019                The Woman Who Can Smell Parkinson’s | World Parkinson Congress | Kyoto

October 20, 2019           The Smell of Parkinson’s

EMAIL Larry and Rebecca: ParkinsonsPod@curiouscast.ca

Have questions, comments, or a story idea? We would love you to click here and leave a message  https://www.speakpipe.com/WhenLifeGivesYouParkinsons

Follow us, Larry & Rebecca Gifford 

Twitter: @ParkinsonsPod

Facebook: Facebook.com/ParkinsonsPod

Instagram: @parkinsonspod

Thanks to

Dila Velazquez – Story Producer

Greg Schott – Sound Design

Our Promotional Partners include: 

Diagnosed with Parkinson’s? You are not alone. Contact presenting partner Parkinson Canada http://www.parkinson.ca/, call the toll free hotline 1-800-565-3000 or on Twitter you can message @ParkinsonCanada.

Thanks also to our content and promotional partners

The Michael J. Fox Foundation Parkinson’s Podcast hosted by Larry Gifford as featured in the MJFF2021 Year in Review.

PD Avengers – We are building a global alliance to end Parkinson’s. Join us.

World Parkinson Congress 2023 – It’s time to start thinking about making your plans to join us for #WPC2023 in Barcelona, Spain for the sixth triennial congress.

Spotlight YOPD – The only Parkinson’s organization dedicated to raising awareness for Young Onset Parkinson’s disease and funds for the Cure Parkinson’s Trust.