ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — Parkinson’s is the most common motor disorder affecting almost 10 million people worldwide. It can cause debilitating symptoms like shaking, tremors, balance issues, and stiff muscles.
Parkinson’s is a brain disorder that slowly steals your movement, balance, and control.
“All those Parkinson symptoms, all those came from the imbalance of the dopamine in a stratum,” said Kiminobu Sugaya, PhD, neuroscience division head for the University of Central Florida.
While there’s no cure, there are some ways to put the brakes on this progressive disease. First: exercise! People with early Parkinson’s who got at least four hours of moderate exercise a week had slower disease progression.
“We know that the more active people are and the more fit they are, the better they can deal with Parkinson’s disease,” said Fay Horak, PhD, professor of neurology at Oregan Health & Science University.
Another way to slow the disease could be a patch that sits on your head. It uses infrared light to travel through the ceramic and activates neurons. Mice treated with the patch had better control of their balance and movement.
“We are not going to say that this is going to regenerate the neurons, but that this one preventing the loss of the neurons even further,” explained Prof. Sugaya.
About half of Parkinson’s patients will develop dementia within 10 years. Now, researchers in Europe are studying whether a popular cough medicine called ambroxol could help. In a year-long clinical trial, daily use of ambroxol kept Parkinson’s dementia from getting worse and even slightly improved cognitive performance. In the meantime, Prof. Horak has this advice:
“We like to be challenging balance in gate and challenging cognition at the same time,” she told Ivanhoe.
Men are 1.5 times more likely to develop Parkinson’s than women. Researchers aren’t sure exactly what causes the disorder, but head injuries and environmental factors may play a role. Researchers also found those who followed a mediterranean-like diet strictly had up to a 17-year delay in Parkinson’s onset.
Contributors to this news report include: Julie Marks, Producer; Chuck Bennethum, Editor.
Sources:
https://www.parkinson.org/understanding-parkinsons/statistics
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/07/250706081848.htm
https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/the-facts-about-parkinsons-disease
https://www.parkinson.org/blog/awareness/10-facts
https://www.parkinson.org/blog/awareness/parkinsons-progress
* For More Information, Contact: Eric Eraso
and
Christin Senior
Free weekly e-mail on Prescription: Health from Ivanhoe. To sign up: http://www.ivanhoe.com/ftk
