Existing drug may prevent Alzheimer's

Maria Cohut  August 4, 2018

Emerging evidence suggests that a "potent" drug could prevent the development of Alzheimer's disease — but only if a person takes the medication long before symptoms of this condition make an appearance.

An existing drug may be able to stop Alzheimer's onset, researchers say.

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia; according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 5.7 million adults in the United States live with this condition.

Unfortunately, there is no cure for Alzheimer's, and following disease onset, symptoms tend to worsen progressively.

Then, the question, "Can specialists prevent the disease in people deemed at increased risk?" arises.

The authors of a new study, from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, suggest that one drug called memantine — which is currently used to manage Alzheimer's symptoms — may actually help prevent the disease. This, however, might only happen if a person takes the drug before symptoms set in.

"Based on what we've learned so far, it is my opinion that we will never be able to cure Alzheimer's disease by treating patients once they become symptomatic," says Prof. George Bloom, of the University of Virginia, who oversaw the study.

"The best hope for conquering this disease is to first recognize patients who are at risk, and begin treating them prophylactically with new drugs and perhaps lifestyle adjustments that would reduce the rate at which the silent phase of the disease progresses," he says, adding, "Ideally, we would prevent it from starting in the first place."

The journal Alzheimer's & Dementia has now published the team's findings.

The cell cycle re-entry process

The researchers explain that Alzheimer's disease actually begins long before symptoms start to show — perhaps even a decade or longer in advance.

One of the condition's characteristics is that, once affected by the disease, brain cells attempt to divide — possibly in order to balance out the death of other neurons — only to die, anyway.

In any case, the further division of fully formed brain cells is unusual and does not happen in a healthy brain. The affected neurons' attempt at division is called the "cell cycle re-entry process."

"It's been estimated that as much as 90 percent of neuron death that occurs in the Alzheimer's brain follows this cell cycle re-entry process, which is an abnormal attempt to divide," explains Prof. Bloom.

"By the end of the course of the disease, the patient will have lost about 30 percent of the neurons in the frontal lobes of the brain," he estimates.

Study co-author Erin Kodis — Prof. Bloom's former doctoral student — formed her own hypothesis about what triggers this mechanism.

Excess calcium, she believes, enters neurons through special receptors called NMDA receptors on the cells' surface. This drives brain cells to start dividing.

Following a series of laboratory experiments, Kodis confirmed that her hypothesis was correct. This mechanism is set in motion before the formation of amyloid plaques, which are characteristic of Alzheimer's disease, in the brain.

Eventually, however, molecules of an amino acid called beta amyloid stick together to form toxic amyloid plaques.

Memantine may have 'potent properties'

Kodis saw that when neurons encounter beta amyloid molecules in the early stages that precede plaque buildup, NMDA receptors open to receive the excess calciumthat ultimately leads to their destruction.

But then the researcher made another discovery: the drug memantine prevented cell cycle re-entry by closing the NMDA receptors on the surface of neurons.

"The experiments suggest that memantine might have potent disease-modifying properties if it could be administered to patients long before they have become symptomatic and diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease."

Prof. George Bloom

"Perhaps this could prevent the disease or slow its progression long enough that the average age of symptom onset could be significantly later, if it happens at all," Prof. Bloom adds.

These findings are particularly promising; memantine has few known side effects, and those that have been reported are rare and do not have a major impact on an individual's well-being.

Prof. Bloom believes that, in the future, a useful preventive approach might be to screen people for telling signs that they are exposed to Alzheimer's as early as possible.

Specialists could then prescribe memantine to those at an increased risk of the disease, he says. People may have to take the drug throughout their lives to keep Alzheimer's at bay — or at least in check.

"I don't want to raise false hopes," says Prof. Bloom. However, he continues, "[I]f this idea of using memantine as a prophylactic pans out, it will be because we now understand that calcium is one of the agents that gets the disease started, and we may be able to stop or slow the process if done very early."

Currently, Prof. Bloom and colleagues are planning a clinical trial to test the preventive strategy that they outlined in the study.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322670.php?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_country=US&utm_hcp=no&utm_campaign=MNT%20Daily%20Full%20%28non-HCP%20US%29%20-%20OLD%20STYLE%202018-08-04&utm_term=MNT%20Daily%20News%20%28non-HCP%20US%29

UA clinical trial to repurpose drug for Parkinson's patients

 Carlos Herrera   Aug 4, 2018

Copyright 2018 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

TUCSON, Ariz. - The best-known treatment for Parkinson's disease isn't perfect. That is why, after nearly five decades, a drug known as ketamine is being repurposed to potentially help Parkinson's patients in a new clinical trial at the UA College of Medicine - Tucson.

The drug named Levodopa can treat the stiffness and slowness of movement associated with the disease. "The problem is Levodopa works great for a few years, but then you start getting these side effects," says Scott Sherman, MD, PhD, a neurologist at the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson.

According to Sherman, forty percent of patients on Levodopa eventually experience dyskinesia, uncontrollable and involuntary movements of the arms, legs, head or entire body.

"Patients that have uncontrolled movements of their limbs and face, these can be mild but sometimes they become so extreme that the patients need to lay down to wait until the side effect passes which could be hours," he said. 

Unless patients stop Levodopa treatment altogether, these movements do not go away. Now, UA researchers will repurpose ketamine, a drug currently used to treat pain and depression, to try to reduce these involuntary movements brought on by Levodopa.

"Patients would be able to continue taking their medications and they would get a treatment of ketamine about once a month get an infusion that would last about 6 hours," he explained. 

Led by Dr. Sherman and Torsten Falk, Ph.D., a neuroscientist in the UA Department of Neurology, the two will launch a small phase I clinical trial this summer at the UA College of Medicine - Tucson. The trial is supported by a three-year $750,000 grant from the Arizona Biomedical Research Commission (ABRC). They will use 10 patients in their first clinical trial which will verify that Dr. Sherman's hunch holds true - that ketamine is tolerable and effective for treating dyskinesia.

Sherman says the treatment would last for many weeks and calm the abnormal movement. The combination of the two could be a good option for treating some patients that would otherwise need surgical procedures, he said. 

Repurposing ketamine, a drug that has 50 years of safety, for other indications lets the process go quicker, Falk said. He expects the treatment to be available soon.

https://www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/ua-clinical-trial-to-repurpose-drug-for-parkinson-s-patients

Colorado Springs fundraiser for people with Parkinson's taking unique approach

By: Michelle Karas Aug 3, 2018

Fundraiser for the Unsteady Hand artist collective supporting people with Parkinson’s disease, 7 p.m. Saturday, Art 111 Gallery & Art Supply, 111 E. Bijou St., free, theunsteadyhand.org

After experiencing a persistent tremor in his hand, Mo Onstad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at age 48, considered early onset for the incurable progressive nervous system disorder, which can affect a person’s movement.

Most people who develop the disease are 60 and older. Singer Linda Ronstadt, for example, was diagnosed at age 67. But actor Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at age 29. An estimated 1 million people in the United States and 10 million worldwide have the disease, which can strike at any time, according to the Parkinson’s Foundation.

Colorado Springs native Onstad, now 50, wants to tap art and fellowship to brighten the lives of other people with Parkinson’s in the Pikes Peak region.

“My experience is: It sucks to have Parkinson’s, but it’s not the end of the world,” he said.

Onstad said it’s going to be a party atmosphere.

“I don’t want it to be just a bunch of people with Parkinson’s. We have support groups for that,” he said. “I’m trying to set up something that’s sustainable, so when I’m not able to do it — which could be five years with this disease, or it could be 40 — it will continue on. It’s just so important because people with Parkinson’s have it pretty rough.”

Onstad, who works in case management for The Resource Exchange, saw a need for the arts-focused organization in Colorado Springs and wants to expand it to the entire Front Range and the rest of Colorado.

“Then, within five years, I’d like it to go national. This is big. It’s not just Colorado Springs. I’m expecting this to blow up.”

He mobilized a board whose members are his mother, artist and art therapist Cathleen Meadows; Steve Peters, a local with Parkinson’s; physical therapist Emily Moncheski; and Amanda Stoke, co-owner of Art 111 Gallery & Art Supply, which is donating space for Saturday’s event. They’re searching for one more board member.

Peters agreed that Colorado Springs needs The Unsteady Hand.

“People with Parkinson’s here kind of stay inside and don’t talk about the disease. We’re trying to work with people and get them involved — for the social part of it and also so they share their experience and ask questions. It’s a way to forget about stuff for a little bit,” he said. “Plus making art is a way to express yourself.”

Many Parkinson’s organizations focus on exercise, which is known to slow the progress of the disease.

Onstad said, “I learned that what we really need is art.”

A gofundme campaign raised $1,500 for The Unsteady Hand’s startup costs. Its website, theundsteadyhand.org, and its Facebook page, facebook.com/events/261941931229625/, have attracted visitors from around the globe.

Onstad plans an official launch for The Unsteady Hand during Arts Month in October, with the start of regular classes and creativity labs. Also planned is a show of works by group members.

https://gazette.com/arts-entertainment/colorado-springs-fundraiser-for-people-with-parkinson-s-disease-taking/article_6105a6f6-8ec4-11e8-b996-974ea0eaaa0a.html

Head Injuries Linked to Parkinson's Disease

03 August 2018

Links between brain damage and contact sports continue to emerge, with scientists now tying repetitive head impacts to a condition that can lead to Parkinson's disease.

Researchers have already tied repetitive head impacts with the brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and dementia. Now, investigators who examined 694 brains after death report ties with Lewy body disease.

Lewy body disease may be behind the motor problems that have been attributed to CTE, said the researchers from Boston University School of Medicine and the VA Boston Healthcare System.

Lewy body disease is associated with thinking, movement and sleep problems, depression and visual hallucinations. It can progress to Parkinson's disease -- a brain disease that affects movement and thinking -- and Lewy body dementia, the study authors explained.

The degree of risk was related to "the number of years an individual was exposed to contact sports, including football, ice hockey and boxing," corresponding author Dr. Thor Stein said in a Boston University news release. He's an assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine.

For athletes who played more than eight years of contact sports, the risk was six times higher than for those who played eight years or less, Stein's team found.

The researchers said the link between contact sports and Lewy body disease is independent of CTE.

But the study did find that people with both Lewy body disease and CTE were much more likely to have dementia and symptoms of Parkinson's disease than those with CTE alone.

The findings were published July 25 in the Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology.

More research is needed to better identify the risks associated with repeated blows to the head and degenerative brain disease, the authors said.

https://www.newsmax.com/health/health-news/head-injuries-link-parkinsons/2018/08/03/id/875394/

pH imbalance in brain cells may contribute to Alzheimer's disease

August 2, 2018, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Illustration of how pH imbalance inside endosomes may contribute to Alzheimer's disease. Credit: Hari Prasad

Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists say they have found new evidence in lab-grown mouse brain cells, called astrocytes, that one root of Alzheimer's disease may be a simple imbalance in acid-alkaline—or pH—chemistry inside endosomes, the nutrient and chemical cargo shuttles in cells.

Astrocytes work to clear so-called amyloid beta proteins from the spaces between neurons, but decades of evidence has shown that if the clearing process goes awry, amyloid proteins pile up around neurons, leading to the characteristic amyloid plaques and nerve cell degeneration that are the hallmarks of memory-destroying Alzheimer's disease.

The new study, described online June 26 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also reports that the scientists gave drugs called histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors to pH-imbalanced mice cells engineered with a common Alzheimer's gene variant. The experiment successfully reversed the pH problem and improved the capacity for amyloid beta clearance.

HDAC inhibitors are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in people with certain types of blood cancers, but not in people with Alzheimer's. They cautioned that most HDAC inhibitors cannot cross the blood-brain barrier, a significant challenge to the direct use of the drugs for brain disorders. The scientists say they are planning additional experiments to see if HDAC inhibitors have a similar effect in lab-grown astrocytes from Alzheimer's patients, and that there is the potential to design HDAC inhibitors that can cross the barrier.

However, the scientists caution that even before those experiments can happen, far more research is needed to verify and explain the precise relationship between amyloid proteins and Alzheimer's disease, which affects an estimated 50 million people worldwide. To date, there is no cure and no drugs that can predictably or demonstrably prevent or reverse Alzheimer's disease symptoms.

"By the time Alzheimer's disease is diagnosed, most of the neurological damage is done, and it's likely too late to reverse the disease's progression," says Rajini Rao, Ph.D., professor of physiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "That's why we need to focus on the earliest pathological symptoms or markers of Alzheimer's disease, and we know that the biology and chemistry of endosomes is an important factor long before cognitive decline sets in."

Nearly 20 years ago, scientists at Johns Hopkins and New York University discovered that endosomes, circular compartments that ferry cargo within cells, are larger and far more abundant in brain cells of people destined to develop Alzheimer's disease. This hinted at an underlying problem with endosomes that could lead to an accumulation of amyloid protein in spaces around neurons, says Rao.

To shuttle their cargo from place to place, endosomes use chaperones—proteins that bind to specific cargo and bring them back and forth from the cell's surface. Whether and how well this binding occurs depends on the proper pH level inside the endosome, a delicate balance of acidity and alkalinity, or acid and base, that makes endosomes float to the surface and slip back down into the cell.

Embedded in the endosome membrane are proteins that shuttle charged hydrogen atoms, known as protons, in and out of endosomes. The amount of protons inside the endosome determines its pH.

When fluids in the endosome become too acidic, the cargo is trapped within the endosome deep inside the cell. When the endosome contents are more alkaline, the cargo lingers at the cell's surface for too long.

To help determine whether such pH imbalances occur in Alzheimer's disease, Johns Hopkins graduate student Hari Prasad scoured scientific studies of Alzheimer's disease looking for genes that were dialed down in diseased brains compared with normal ones. Comparing a dataset of 15 brains of Alzheimer's disease patients with 12 normal ones, he found that 10 of the 100 most frequently down-regulated genes were related to the proton flow in the cell.

In another set of brain tissue samples from 96 people with Alzheimer's disease and 82 without it, gene expression of the proton shuttle in endosomes, known as NHE6, was approximately 50 percent lower in people with Alzheimer's disease compared with those with normal brains. In cells grown from people with Alzheimer's disease and in mouse astrocytes engineered to carry a human Alzheimer's disease gene variant, the amount of NHE6 was about half the amount found in normal cells.

To measure the pH balance within endosomes without breaking open the astrocyte, Prasad and Rao used pH sensitive probes that are absorbed by endosomes and emit light based on pH levels. They found that mouse cell lines containing the Alzheimer's disease gene variant had more acidic endosomes (average of 5.37 pH) than cell lines without the gene variant (average of 6.21 pH).

"Without properly functioning NHE6, endosomes become too acidic and linger inside astrocytes, avoiding their duties to clear amyloid beta proteins," says Rao.

While it's likely that changes in NHE6 happen over time in people who develop sporadic Alzheimer's disease, people who have inherited mutations in NHE6 develop what's known as Christianson syndrome in infancy and have rapid brain degeneration.

Prasad and Rao also found that a protein called LRP1, which picks up amyloid beta proteins outside the astrocyte and delivers them to endosomes, was half as abundant on the surface of lab grown mouse astrocytes engineered with a human gene variant called APOE4, commonly linked to Alzheimer's disease.

Looking for ways to restore the function of NHE6, Prasad searched databases of yeast studies to find that HDAC inhibitors tend to increase expression of the NHE6 gene in yeast. This gene is very similar across species, including flies, mice and humans.

Prasad and Rao tested nine types of HDAC inhibitors on cell cultures of mouse astrocytes engineered with the APOE4 gene variant. Broad-spectrum HDAC inhibitors increased NHE6 expression to levels associated with mouse astrocytes that did not have the Alzheimer's gene variant. They also found that HDAC inhibitors corrected the pH imbalance inside endosomes and restored LRP1 to the astrocyte surface, resulting in efficient clearance of amyloid beta protein.

More information: Hari Prasad et al. Amyloid clearance defect in ApoE4 astrocytes is reversed by epigenetic correction of endosomal pH, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2018). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1801612115

Journal reference: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 

Provided by: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine 

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-08-ph-imbalance-brain-cells-contribute.html

A new prescription for Parkinson's patients: Hula, Flamenco and tap-dancing

By Scott Scanlon   August 2, 2018 

The revitalization of Buffalo was on full display last weekend during National Dance Day.

Cynthia Cadwell Pegado — a dance instructor who specializes in working with those who have Parkinson's disease — led a joyous group in marking the celebration on the boardwalk at Canalside.

Several of her students with Parkinson's were there. So were Buffalo Public School students with special needs. Teens with Aspire Center for Learning tapped their fingers and toes from their wheelchairs to the beat of the Kylie Minogue's "Dancing."

Tourists and locals joined in the fun, helping to underline that the City of Good Neighbors has a right to talk proud on these glorious days of summer.

"I so loved the spirit that everyone embodied. We were celebrating ourselves, all together, as a community," said Pegado, who danced professionally in her late teens and 20s. She became certified to teach the PDdance program the year after her father, Frederic Cadwell, was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2010.

The neurological disease impacts a part of the mid-brain that controls movement. It tends to progress slowly. Symptoms can include tremors (mostly in the hands), limb rigidity and gait and balance challenges, as well as depression and trouble speaking and sleeping. The severity varies from person to person.Dance helps relieve and keep those symptoms at bay.

Pegado — who teaches several Parkinson's-related dance classes each week at other sites — has affirmed on Friday mornings at Canalside that it also soothes and strengthens those with all sorts of challenges, no matter how big or small.

"Cognitive and physical challenges of dance that benefit people with Parkinson's are of great value for people who need to keep active, who've never danced before, who used to dance," she said.

Dancers this summer have included tourists from around the world, pre-school students and several attendees in town two weeks ago to attend a conference at the Buffalo Naval Park. Kids from St. Mary's School for the Deaf attended recently — and signed "Let's Go Buffalo" as they participated.

Mary Rowe was among those with Aspire, which brought a contingent of those aged 15 to 21 to Canalside last weekend. The agency assists those with physical and intellectual challenges. Field trips are common on summer Fridays, "so everyone can enjoy themselves," Rowe said. "The kids have likes and dislikes, just like everybody else, and they like music and dancing."

As a child, Pegado trained under Norma Ferrara Gelose and participated in the Young Dancers’ Workshop. By age 16, she was principal dancer with Ken-Ton Ballet. She was the lead in “Giselle” and other productions during her last two years of local training before heading to college as a dance major.

She stopped dancing after she married, to raise a family, but reimmersed herself after her father fell ill and she had a chance meeting in New York City with a friend and former colleague who had danced with the National Ballet of Portugal. The friend told her about a Dance for PD program started a decade earlier by the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Brooklyn Parkinson Group. Intrigued, Pegado enlisted in the program's PDdance training and became certified to teach it.

"My whole goal is to offer movement that is satisfying to each individual, and to accept whatever movement someone can manifest," she said. "My mantra is, 'There's no wrong way to do it.' "

She calls the Canalside classes, in their fourth summer, "Everyone Can Dance."

Cynthia Cadwell Pegado, certified in PDdance, teaches as many as four dance classes a week. (John Hickey/Buffalo News)

There is no cure for Parkinson's. The disease is not fatal but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists its complications as the 14th leading cause of death in the United States. An estimated 1 million Americans have Parkinson's out of 10 million cases worldwide.

Treatment options include medications and surgery — and movement.

"Research has shown that movement in general is so critical in the battle against the symptoms," said Chris Jamele, executive director of the Parkinson's Foundation of Western New York, which helps underwrite the cost of Pegado's classes, along with BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York. "It's a movement disorder and the more that people move, the more they can delay the onset of some of those symptoms, so it's really critical."

Benefits include improving or maintaining range of motion, greater body awareness and posture, improved gait and better strength, balance and mobility.

"(Cynthia) can read the people with Parkinson's to see what their limitations are, and be able to work with those," Jamele said. "She has opened a number of doors and minds for people in the Parkinson's community, people who never gave a thought to even consider dance in any form, let along choreographed movement to music to help with their symptoms."

Pegado teaches Parkinson's-related classes in Amherst and Kenmore.

From now through November, she also is teaching an Art Moves Me class most Wednesday mornings in the Burchfield-Penney Art Center. A violinist or other musician always accompanies her.

Jim Eagan and Paul Sauer are among her dance regulars.

Jim Eagan and Elaine Geschwender, of West Seneca, enjoy the "Everyone Can Dance" classes at Canalside. Eagan said he has come to value exercise even more since he was diagnosed nearly a dozen years ago with Parkinson's disease. (John Hickey/Buffalo News)

Eagan, 66, of West Seneca, is a retired Buffalo Sewer Authority engineer, who worked for six years after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's 11 years ago.

"I started riding a bike as soon as I found out," said Egan, who also takes boxing classes and regularly attends speech therapy sessions at the University at Buffalo with Sauer and others, to help address the softened speech that the disease also often brings.

"It's enjoyable to dance," he said. "The classes are amazing. Cynthia gets everyone involved and makes it fun."

Sauer, 73, of Getzville, is a marketing professor at Canisius College who continues to work part-time. He regularly rides a Theracycle and has skied several times as part of the Parkinson's Powder Busters program in Ellicottville. But he counts dance among his healthiest choices.

"Cynthia will show you so many things you never even thought about," Sauer said. "It's so much discipline in terms of posture and movement. These are critical for those with Parkinson's because you need the physical and mental stimulation. You can speed up the movement as you learn it, which helps your reactions."

His advice to those recently diagnosed? Consider the depression that can come with a diagnosis. Join a support group, attend the PDdance classes and "do whatever you can find that will work for you."

The PDdance classes tend to be a bit more regimented, built on hand, foot, leg and other and other movements that help improve function.

"It's more like freestyle" at Canalside, Egan said, though hearing and remembering a sequence of moves is also part of the process. "Canalside is even better, the atmosphere down here, the water, and we get to dance with other people."

If he can't keep up?

"There are no wrong moves," he said.

Pegado draws from various styles of dance, including folk, tap, ballet, contemporary, modern, Hula and Flamenco. "Anything that has something tricky pattern-wise and weight shift-wise and coordination-wise is helpful," she said. "Then we break it down really slowly, feet only, hands only, focus only, and slowly build it together with their capabilities. The whole idea is for them to feel good about moving their bodies."

Dance classes at the art gallery and Canalside — both open to the public — tend to be more free-flowing.

"I love that we've carved out a niche at Canalside where people with Parkinson's can come and be a part of the downtown renaissance," Pegado said. "It started with my desire to teach in the outdoors because Parkinson's shrinks someone's world and in this space, a piece of something beautiful happened."

Address Parkinson's through fitness

Brahmin Al-Zinhi enjoys National Dance Day at Canalside. Pictured behind him, at left, is Paul Sauer, a regular at classes taught by Cynthia Caldwell Pegado. (John Hickey/Buffalo News)

A variety of free classes are available in Western New York to address the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Anyone is able to come and may bring a care partner or family member with them. 

They include:

Everyone Can Dance: 10 to 11 a.m. Aug. 10, 24 and 31, Canalside (open to all).

PDdance: Taught by Cynthia Pegado from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Faith United Church of Christ Fellowship Hall, 1300 Maple Road (at Hopkins Road), Amherst; 1:45 to 3 p.m. Thursdays,  ModDance Studio, 2890 Delaware Ave. (at Lincoln Boulevard), Kenmore. Register at cypegado@gmail.com or 262-8122.

Powder Busters Conditioning: Taught by Cynthia Pegado from 12:45 to 1:45 p.m. Tuesdays, Faith United Church of Christ Fellowship Hall, 1300 Maple Road, Amherst; 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. Thursdays, ModDance Studio, 2890 Delaware Ave., Kenmore. Register at cypegado@gmail.com or 262-8122.

Art Moves Me: Parkinson's-specific classes, though open to the public, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. most Wednesdays through November at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center, 1300 Elmwood Ave. Taught by Cynthia Pegado, who says, "It's quite an intellectual class where we're looking at artwork and figuring out how to interpret it with movement." Classes are open to all but numbers are limited; register at cypegado@gmail.com or 878-6011.

Parkinson’s yoga: 5:30 p.m. Fridays, Himalayan Institute, 841 Delaware Ave. Classes led by Larry Pignataro focus on flexibility, strength, and mental and physical balance.

Parkinson’s Perk Café: Social hour from 6:30 to 8 p.m. the first Wednesday of each month at Dry Gulch Dance Hall, 3145 Walden Ave., Depew. Bring a coffee mug. Volunteers are needed to assist in making coffee and hosting; call 449-3795 for more information.

Video: Everyone-Can-Dance.mp4 or watch it on the following:

https://buffalonews.com/2018/08/02/parkinsons-inspired-dance-class-moves-all-at-canalside/

Parkinson’s Happy Dance

Aug. 2, 2018

Sue Swanson, center, rehearses a number for a musical that her group, Happy Dance, is rehearsing for family and friends Tuesday, July 31, 2018 at the Northwest Parkinsons Foundation office. The music, dance and dialogue challenge the group of Parkinsons patients and their spouses to push themselves. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)

Instructor Donna Douglass, left, plays piano and helps her group rehearse a number for a musical for family and friends Tuesday, July 31, 2018 at the Northwest Parkinsons Foundation office. The group is made up of Parkinsons patients and their spouses. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)

THe members of a Parkinsons therapy class, Happy Dance, rehearse a simple dance number in a musical they will perform for family and friends Tuesday, July 31, 2018 at the Northwest Parkinsons Foundation office. The music, dance and dialogue challenge the group of Parkinsons patients and their spouses to push themselves. Jesse Tinsley/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)

A summer class called Happy Dance & More is helping people with Parkinson’s disease to exercise and work on mobility. The session has 15 dancers, including patients as well as caregivers and spouses, who will do a show of theatrical dances for family later this month. The free weekly class is sponsored by the Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation in Spokane.

Fifteen dancers belted out Broadway tunes on Tuesday as they synchronized steps and handled props of derby hats, feather boas or canes.

At least half the group also were strengthening their mobility and vocals in Happy Dance & More, a summer class for Parkinson’s patients to exercise and work on coordination. The sessions are open to people with the disease along with their caregivers and spouses.

Later this month, the group will perform for family and friends to highlight their work. The once-a-week class, which runs for six weeks, is sponsored by the Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation in Spokane.

“For people with Parkinson’s, dance is really important for mobility,” said instructor Donna Douglass, who has a theater background. “I designed the steps so they’re very simple.

“If you look at the challenges that people with Parkinson’s have, physical challenge is a big one. They’ll start out being mobile, especially with early onset Parkinson’s, and eventually that person, depending on how it progresses, will end up in a wheelchair. It’s important to keep moving as much as possible.”

Actor Alan Alda agrees with that sentiment. On Tuesday, the “M*A*S*H” star publicly announced he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s more than three years agoand that he stays active to remain healthier. 

On social media, Alda posted a video of himself juggling, with the words, “If you get a diagnosis, keep moving!” In his post, he says he takes boxing lessons three times a week and plays tennis. He told CBS’ “This Morning” the music of John Philip Sousa helps, too. “Marching to march music is good for Parkinson’s,” he said. 

Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects predominately dopamine-producing neurons in a specific area of the brain. Symptoms generally progress slowly over years and include tremors, rigidity, gait issues, loss of voice and impaired balance. 

About 1 million people in the U.S. live with the disease, says the Parkinson’s Foundation. Dance-based exercises are thought to help patients strengthen mobility, flexibility and balance. 

Cynthia Lambarth is taking the Happy Dance class with her husband, Geoff Praeger, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2006. They’re also both in a Parkinson’s singing group called Tremble Clefs.

Lambarth has noticed that her husband’s voice is much stronger after class exercises, and singing, as opposed to when they take time off.

While coordination is an issue for him, Praeger, 72, said the class helps. He also enjoys the camaraderie and fun. He credited the energy and creativity of Douglass. 

“I just heard Alan Alda on my car radio, and he just revealed he has Parkinson’s,” Praeger said. “His message was you have to stay active whatever way you can.

“You have to be creative with that because Parkinson’s is different for each person on each day.” 

Al Greenwood, 77, also is in the class. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s about five years ago. 

“The class makes you use your voice more, so it’s therapy for me,” he said. “It helps with both movement and learning.”

For the past few years, Douglass has volunteered to lead the summer dance session at the Spokane foundation’s office, 1420 E. Sprague Ave. She also plays piano for Tremble Clefs, which takes a summer break but meets the rest of the year on Tuesdays at the foundation’s office.

Before retiring from Washington State University Spokane in 2006, Douglass also founded and directed On Stage!, a performing arts program for people with psychiatric disabilities.

During Happy Dance & More, activities focus on improving vocal skills and motor coordination through exercise and chair dances. Douglass, a music therapist, said the idea for a season-ending performance started last year.

“Last summer, we decided to do a showcase to demonstrate what we learned over the summer,” Douglass said. “I told them that we’ll call it a demonstration, and then someone said, ‘Let’s call it a showcase.’ We’re not focused on performance; we’re focused on the process.

“Last year, we did everything sitting, so it was chair dancing,” Douglass added. “This year I said, ‘We’re getting on our feet.’ It has been a challenge. I come home on Tuesdays wiped out, but I love it.”

A couple of Happy Dance members use wheelchairs or walkers, while most in the class have wider mobility. Spouses participate in the singing and dancing and also will be in the show.

A segment among female cast members involves them doing a simple dance using feathered boas, while they and the cast sing “The Bootleggin’ Blues.” Douglass said she has the group work slowly through all dance routines with emphasis on having fun.

Another routine requires coordinated choreography with canes as members move them hand-to-hand and over the head. They sing and perform to “Puttin’ on the Ritz” and “On Broadway,” with several of the dancers walking eight steps around the cane and then turning around to repeat eight steps. 

At least once, early attempts at the cane dance drew more giggles than steps. Douglass said.

“I wish you could see how hard we were laughing,” she said. “First of all, we’re asking people to do more than one thing at a time. We usually sing. We’re doing a skit in reader’s theater style.

“The point is to show people what they can do if you give them a chance. The fact that they’re doing a cane dance is pretty amazing because most of them have never done this type of dance before on stage.”

In early practices for the show, any routine that doesn’t work well is thrown out, she said. Class members also offer ideas for the final performance.

Douglass said she buys or has kept theatrical props to use for the dance class and show, but she hopes in the future to receive some donations to keep the summer showcase ongoing.

“These people are incredible,” she said. “They just don’t give up their persistence and positive attitude.”

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/aug/01/parkinsons-happy-dance-summer-class-aims-to-help-p/