‘It’s been a blessing’: YMCA class helps people with Parkinson’s

November 19, 2019    Scott Marion

EDWARDSVILLE — Dealing with Parkinson’s disease is an everyday fact of life for Audie Gregg, but he’s not going to let the disease define him.

“It’s easy when you’re diagnosed with something like this to just sit down and quit, but I decided to look at it and see what I could do to beat it or deal with it better,” said Gregg, a 69-year-old Troy resident who has had Parkinson’s for just over four years. “You need to have a good positive attitude and a will to live.”

Gregg is among the people who participate in an exercise class for people with Parkinson’s disease at the Niebur Center YMCA, located at 1200 Esic Drive in Edwardsville.

The class, which started in June, meets at 11 a.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays. A YMCA membership is not required, and all levels of participants are welcome.

The YMCA’s Parkinson’s class is something new for Gregg, but he feels it has made a huge impact on his life.

“It’s been a blessing and it’s something I look forward to,” Gregg said. “It’s showed me tips about exercising that I didn’t know. When I first started out, I was dropping a lot of things, but now I don’t drop nearly as many as I used to.

“I feel better and I stand straighter and my body seems to be more alive. I breathe better.”

Parkinson’s is a progressive disease of the nervous system marked by tremor, muscular rigidity, and slow, imprecise movement, chiefly affecting middle-aged and older adults.

Along with improving overall health, exercise has been shown to help manage Parkinson’s symptoms and improve quality of life. The class works on movement strategies, coordination, balance and flexibility.

The first 30 minutes of the one-hour class is spent on a spinning bike. The second 30 minutes is spent on lightweight training with a variety of exercises.

“The cycling is really good for people with Parkinson’s because it’s a movement they usually don’t lose,” said Ann McLean, health and wellness director for the Edwardsville YMCA. “Even when they get off the bike, it helps them to keep their movements smoother.

“While they’re on the bikes, they also talk, which is good for them, and it’s good exercise in general. It’s like it’s part of their prescription for a Parkinson’s patient because it changes everything about how their body works.”

A recent 30-minute session on the spinning bikes featured instructor Mary Tebbe leading the class, keeping a steady dialog and encouraging feedback from the participants as they went through cycling workouts of varying intensity.

It is evident that she had taken the time to get to know her clients, and she made the class a fun, sociable experience even as they got valuable therapy.

“She motivates us, and she does a wonderful job,” Gregg said. “You can tell she cares about as her students.”

After the cycling session, the class moved to the next room, where Tebbe led the group in exercises with small hand-held weights and plastic balls while most of the time they remained seated in specially designed sturdy chairs.

Many of the exercises are designed to help Parkinson’s patients deal with everyday activities where their abilities may have been affected by the disease.

“They’ll do specific things like being able to lift your feet like you’re stepping in and out of a car,” McLean said. “Everyone tells me that when they walk out of here, they feel a lot better. We have different instructors on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so they each kind of do their own routine.”

Rick Vaughn, 66, of Granite City, is another member of the class, and he has become a believer in exercise therapy for Parkinson’s.

Vaughn was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in April 2015, but probably had the disease for a year before that.

“It’s been a godsend,” Vaughn said. “I feel 100 percent better than before and I look forward to Tuesdays and Fridays. I didn’t realize they would help me this much until after two or three weeks.

“I was told from the early onset that exercise is just as important as medicine and that’s what the top neurologists in the country say. It’s something you have to live with, and you have to make the most out of each day.”

Vaughn also does exercises in his home, including using a speed bag.

“That helps me a lot, especially with my handwriting,” Vaughn said. “I’m lefthanded and after I do 20 to 30 minutes with the speed bag, I’m able to print and write longhand better than I was before.”

Dropping objects because they can’t get a firm grip on them is a common source of frustration for Parkinson’s patients, and the exercise classes at the YMCA deal with that issue.

Losing your balance and falling is an even bigger fear for Parkinson’s patients, and the classes deal with that issue as well.

“Right now, I’m predominantly disabled on my left side, which is my weaker side, but it’s gotten stronger through some of these exercises,” Vaughn said. “Sometimes, I find myself stumbling and going backward and it feels like someone has pushed you. After some time in these classes, the balance issue hasn’t disappeared, but it’s a lot better.”

“We work on things like balance forward and balance backward and how you can catch yourself if you lose your balance,” added Lara Collman, who is the instructor on Tuesdays. “We also work on movement from side to side. We work a lot with the back because that is going to help you with your posture.”

Other exercises are designed to help in picking up kitchen utensils such as pots and pans.

“We do a lot of hand motions to develop strength in the hands,” Collman said.

The YMCA offers a support group for people with Parkinson’s disease at 2 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month. But the exercise class, which typically consists of 10 to 12 people, also serves as a support group.

“With Parkinson’s, it’s important to be around people,” Gregg said. “We can relate to each other and we can talk about our feelings. I have good days and I have bad days, but hopefully, I’ll have more good days than bad.”

“When we first started, everybody was kind of quiet, but not anymore. We’re encouraged to sing and shout out on the bikes and it’s like we’re in a club now.”

All the instructors in the Parkinson’s classes at the YMCA are certified by the St. Louis Chapter of the American Parkinson Disease Association.

Tebbe, who is the instructor on Thursdays, tries to incorporate all her training skills into her classes at the YMCA.

“I have a lot of different training, but I’m also a yoga instructor and a mobility person,” Tebbe said. “I know that (Parkinson’s patients) are slowly crawling forward, so I’m always trying to get them to be able to have more control from a better posture.

“When we put them on the bike, I specifically put them on 10 minutes of higher effort. Studies show that if they can do a high effort for a certain amount of time, then they have more control.”

The classes are designed to benefit Parkinson’s patients from a mental and physical perspective.

“Any kind of multitasking helps their brain function,” Collman said. “With the spinning bikes, while their legs are moving, a lot of times they’ll have arm movements. The more they can multitask, it keeps their body from locking up.”

For people with Parkinson’s, something as simple as getting dressed in the morning can become a challenge.

“You wouldn’t think that getting your clothes on would be tough, but with Parkinson’s, it’s a lot harder,” Gregg said. “It’s something you take for granted. It can be frustrating, but this class has been a tremendous help.

“I recommend anybody with Parkinson’s to get in a program like this because it’s really worth it.”

For more information about the Parkinson’s exercise class and support group, call 618-656-0436 or go to www.edwardsvilleymca.com.

https://www.theintelligencer.com/news/article/8216-It-8217-s-been-a-blessing-8217-YMCA-14846599.php#photo-18633597

Study finds no link between statin use and memory harm in older adults

November 19, 2019

A team from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and the University of New South Wales (UNSW), both in Sydney, Australia, led the study.

"Over 6 years, there was no difference in the rate of decline in memory or global cognition between statin users and never users," they write in a recent Journal of the American College of Cardiology paper on the findings.

In fact, for certain individuals, statins may even offer some protection against memory decline, they suggest.

The results show that, among participants with risk factors for dementia, those who used statins had a slower rate of decline in memory and thinking skills than those who did not use the drugs.

The researchers hope that the findings will help to allay fears among consumers who have become concerned following reports of isolated cases of statin users experiencing cognitive decline.

"Many factors can contribute to the cognitive symptoms that isolated case reports describe," says first study author Katherine Samaras, who is a professor at the Garvan Institute and head of its Clinical Obesity, Nutrition, and Adipose Biology Lab.

Results are 'reassuring'

Dr. Perminder Sachdev, a professor of neuropsychiatry at UNSW and co-director of its Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, is the study's senior author.

He says, "In this study, our data reassuringly suggests that the use of statins to lower cholesterol levels is not likely to adversely affect memory function."

Dr. Sachdev cautions, however, that because the study was observational and not a clinical trial, the findings are not conclusive.

"However," he adds, "the evidence is mounting that statins are safe in relation to brain health, and this concern should not preclude their use in individuals who are likely to benefit from lower cholesterol levels."

Statins are among the more widely prescribed drugs. Since the 1990s, doctors have been prescribing them for people with heart disease or high cholesterol in order to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke.

Prof. Samaras says that up to half of people do not fill their statin prescription, mainly because they are concerned about reports of individuals experiencing cognitive decline from statin use.

"We carried out the most comprehensive analysis of cognition in elderly statin users to date, and found no results to support that cholesterol-lowering statins cause memory impairment," she notes.

No link to faster decline in memory, cognition

For the new study, the team used data from the prospective, observational Sydney Memory and Ageing Study.

The study participants were 1,037 people living in Sydney. Data collection began in 2005, when they were free of dementia and between 70 and 90 years old.

Over 6 years, the participants took 13 different tests to assess five areas of memory and cognition. They also underwent MRI scans to assess changes to their brains.

After adjusting the results to control for potential influencers, such as sex, age, and weight, the researchers found no difference in the rate of change in memory and other features of cognition between those who used statins and those who did not.

"There was also no difference in the change in brain volumes between the two groups," observes Prof. Samaras, who is also an endocrinologist at St Vincent's Hospital, in Sydney.

In addition, she and colleagues saw a slowing of cognitive decline among statin users with heart disease, diabetes, or other risk factors for dementia, compared with participants who had never used this type of drug.

"Our findings," she adds, "demonstrate how crucial a healthy metabolism is to brain function and how therapies can modulate this to promote healthy aging."

"What we've come away with from this study is a reassurance for consumers to feel more confident about their statin prescription."

Prof. Katherine Samaras

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/327060.php?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_country=US&utm_hcp=no&utm_campaign=MNT%20Daily%20News%202019-11-19&utm_term=MNT%20Daily%20News#1

Sleep disturbances, depression may be early signs of Parkinson’s disease

UPI

19 Nov 2019

Experts in the diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson’s disease suggest they are on the verge of developing new ways of identifying the condition earlier — and better managing its debilitating symptoms.

In a presentation Tuesday at the XXIV World Congress of Neurology in Dubai, researchers from the Center for Neurodegenerative Science at Van Andel Institute in Grand Rapids, Mich. told more than 4,000 neurologists from around the world in attendance that recent studies suggest that other health conditions — like rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, constipation, depression, hyposmia, anxiety and excessive daytime sleepiness — may be predictors of the onset of the movement disorder.

The Mayo Clinic describes rapid eye movement, or REM, sleep behavior disorder as a sleep disorder in which you physically act out vivid, often unpleasant dreams with vocal sounds and sudden, often violent arm and leg movements.

This is sometimes called dream-enacting behavior.

“We are beginning to understand Parkinson’s disease mechanisms and found that the prodrome period occurs much earlier than we had previously expected — years, even decades prior to the onset of motor symptoms,” said Prof. Patrik Brundin, director of the Center for Neurodegenerative Science at Van Andel Institute, according to a release. “We’ve never in history known as much about the disease as we do now. It’s a quantum leap from 15-20 years ago.”

Brundin delivered the annual Fulton Award Lecture in Dubai. His talk, entitled “The Battle to Beat Parkinson’s,” summarized how these signs and symptoms may one day be used as new biomarkers — or measurable indicators of the severity or presence of a disease — to diagnose Parkinson’s disease earlier. However, this doesn’t mean that everyone with sleep problems or depression will develop the movement disorder — only that research suggests that those with these conditions may be at increased risk later in life.

According to Brundin, roughly 10 percent of Parkinson’s disease cases are familial, meaning they’re caused by inherited genetic mutations, while the other 90 percent of cases are “sporadic.” In people with this form of the disease, their symptoms may be triggered by a combination of genetics, environmental factors and lifestyle.

Perhaps more importantly, he added, insights into how and when the disease originates and progresses are critical in developing new, more effective treatment options. There are a number of new therapies being tested now, including vaccinations, nerve blockers and neurosurgical procedures.

“The primary question when it comes to treatment is if we can restore lost functions in advanced patients where the damage is already done,” Brundin said. “Research into transplants of nerve cells derived from stem cells shows promise in this regard, and is beginning to enter the clinical arena.”

https://www.breitbart.com/news/sleep-disturbances-depression-may-be-early-signs-of-parkinsons-disease/

Still no end in sight for Sinemet shortage

November 19, 2019

“Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it,” said Winston Churchill. No one group knows this better, I suspect, than people with Parkinson’s (PWP) disease who depend on ready access to the drug, Sinemet, to keep moving, but silently endure repeated shortages of this “gold standard” treatment. The  current shortage of pharmaceutical giant Merck’s brand name immediate release Sinemet began months ago, and still there is no word as to when production may begin again.  A similar scenario played out in 2011 when Merck transitioned the making of Sinemet to Mylan Pharmaceuticals. During this period, patients could not obtain Sinemet in any formulation or dosage. This past fall, Merck permanently stopped making Sinemet CR (controlled release) due to its inability to secure a “reliable and stable supply” of this off-patent drug, which at the time Merck said accounted for less than one percent of the U.S. market share having been chewed up by generic competitors.

The National Parkinson Foundation’s report, Lessons from the 2011 Sinemet Shortage, concluded: “… with all the stakeholders working more closely together with good information, we sincerely hope we could avoid (drug shortages) in the future.”

Well, the future is here and the past is repeating itself. In the interim, drug shortages have grown increasingly commonplace across a wide variety of medical conditions. Last March, Teva made a “business decision” to stop making a widely used pediatric chemotherapy drug, leaving the only other manufacturer of this drug  in the United States to pick up the slack. Doctors warned they may need to resort to rationing to make the current supply last, ultimately putting children’s lives at risk as no other known drug available is as effective. And yet Teva walked away and never looked back, knowing that no one, not even the government, can compel a company to manufacture a drug it no longer wants to make.

Unless and until we legislate real change, big pharma will continue business as usual, exercising free rein over everything from prescription drug pricing to creating artificial drug shortages to suit their own needs. Answering first and foremost to their stockholders, pharma puts profit margins ahead of patients’ best interests; and discontinues older drugs to replace them with newer, more profitable ones. The concern is that if pharmaceutical companies are required to jump through too many hoops and the process isn’t lucrative enough for their desire, they will opt out of high risk drug research and put their money to work elsewhere. This won’t happen, however, if the rules are consistent for all companies across all illnesses and conditions.

Drug shortages have reawakened debate about the increasing reliance on generic drugs across the board, and what consumers sacrifice to obtain lower priced drugs. .In each instance of Sinemet shortage, consumers reported the generic substitutes wore off sooner, took longer to kick in, and failed to achieve as great a maximum effect as the brand name drug, despite attempts to work with their doctors to optimally titrate it.  The bottom line, according to a report by the National Parkinson’s Foundation, is that the FDA’s bioequivalency standard for generic drugs “is not sufficiently rigorous to ensure equal efficacy in anti-parkinson medications.”

While generic drugs must have the same active ingredients in the same amount as the original brand name drug, the inactive ingredients (dyes, flavoring agents, and binding materials) can be different, affecting how quickly the medication gets absorbed in the bloodstream, and accounting for variations in therapeutic efficacy, overall patient tolerance, side effects, and allergic reactions.  Still, pharmacists routinely swap brand name drugs for generics or one generic for another, and dispense differing generic formulations at each refill without necessarily letting patients know. They justify this behavior by arguing that most patients tolerate generic substitution with little or no problem. Why then are many doctors recommending that generic substitution be treated as a medication change, and be managed by a patient’s physician.

Prescribing physicians may request a specific generic or name brand drug if a patient reports better results with that formulation, but the pharmacy may not stock it, in which case patients may ask their pharmacist to check other pharmacies in their network. Be aware that pharmacies will try to sell the medicines lining their shelves before ordering something new. Do not leave the pharmacy without checking the label on the medicine you are picking up. In many states, by law, once medicine leaves the store, it cannot be returned for a refund, even if it is not what your doctor prescribed.

The bottom line is that we need to bring new more effective treatments to pharmacy shelves quicker and at a lower cost. Even clinical trials that “fail” reveal important information that helps propel us toward better therapies. Prescription drugs have made our lives better, but are only as good as they are affordable and available. Let these current drug shortages be a wake-up call for the need to revamp our system, putting patients’ needs first. Reach out to the national Parkinson’s disease organizations and offer to work with them to convince legislators and policymakers to push for policies favorable to Parkinson’s research and care.

Sheryl Jedlinski
sheryl@pdplan4life.com

Recieved by e-mail

Hiding Behind Parkinson’s Disease

 NOVEMBER 18, 2019 BY "SHERRI WOODBRIDGE"

We often try to hide from the world when we feel inadequate, abnormal, or different. It’s a natural defense that can be destructive when it leads to feelings of shame.

Shame is an emotion we would rather avoid. It can come upon us unexpectedly. We tend to associate it with feelings of inadequacy or a poor self-image.

Odd but true

It might seem odd to think a disease would cause you to feel shame. With Parkinson’s disease, our bodies change as they become more rigid. They become more difficult for us to manage and we must rely on help from others. The lack of independence can be humiliating and lead to feelings of shame.

Negative feelings about our appearance or our capabilities affect our expectations. When shame is present, we fear being judged harshly. You feel as if you have breached an unspoken code of conduct for what others view as acceptable behavior in public.

We put pressure on ourselves by believing you have to walk a certain way, talk a certain way, and move a certain way to be normal. For someone with Parkinson’s disease, it might be impossible to live up to the code. It is easy to fall into the trap of feeling worthless and as if we have nothing to offer just because we have Parkinson’s. We can feel small and unimportant, and we may want to disappear.

I was talking to a neighbor one day and my hand began to shake quite a bit. She asked, “What’s the matter with you? Am I making you that nervous?” The way she asked was embarrassing for me. But that was the day she found out I had Parkinson’s disease.

Take off the mask

We want to hide because of how our disease makes us feel. Others want to hide from us because of how our abnormalities make them feel. It is uncomfortable for both sides. People don’t always know how to approach someone with Parkinson’s disease. They don’t know what to say or how to respond.

Don’t be embarrassed the next time you find yourself in a situation where someone is uncomfortable because of how you walk or talk. Enlighten them about the disease. Take off the mask of fear and shame and let others see you. There’s no reason for you to be ashamed.

***

Note: Parkinson’s News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Parkinson’s News Today or its parent company, BioNews Services, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to Parkinson’s disease.

https://parkinsonsnewstoday.com/2019/11/18/hiding-behind-parkinsons-disease/

Mouse Study Implicates Calcium Channel in Neuronal Death in Parkinson’s Disease

NOVEMBER 18, 2019 BY MARISA WEXLER 

A calcium channel called Cav2.3 plays a role in neuronal death, and may be a useful therapeutic target in Parkinson’s disease, suggests a new study done primarily in mice.

The study, titled “Cav2.3 channels contribute to dopaminergic neuron loss in a model of Parkinson’s disease,” was published in Nature Communications.

Motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease are caused primarily by the death of dopamine-producing (dopaminergic) neurons in a part of the brain called the substantia nigra (SN). It has been well-established that calcium signaling — that is, calcium ions moving in or out (but usually in) of a cell, which is mediated by specialized “channel” proteins — plays an important role in the functioning and survival of these neurons, but the precise mechanisms are still not fully understood.

In the new study, researchers began by measuring the levels of several different calcium channels in these neurons in the brains of mice. They were surprised to find higher levels of Cav2.3 than any other calcium channel; Cav2.3 has never been linked to neurodegeneration (neuron cell death) before.

The researchers then used mice that had been genetically engineered so they could not make Cav2.3 and treated them with MPTP (1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine), a chemical that is toxic to neurons and is “the standard model for preclinical testing of neuroprotective Parkinson’s disease therapies in animals,” the researchers wrote.

In wild-type (i.e. with functional Cav2.3) mice, MPTP treatment resulted in the death of about 40% of the dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra.

“In stark contrast, we observed no loss of SN dopaminergic neurons in Cav2.3 knockout animals after MPTP treatment,” the researchers wrote. “Taken together, these data identify Cav2.3 as mediator of SN dopaminergic neuron vulnerability to a degenerative stressor.”

The researchers then measured levels of other calcium-related proteins in neurons lacking Cav2.3, in order to identify possible mechanisms for this phenomenon. They found that these cells had increased levels (by about 40%) of a calcium-sensing protein called NCS-1, and they hypothesized that higher levels of this protein might lend the neurons protection from MPTP.

To test this, the researchers treated mice that lacked NCS-1 with MPTP, which resulted in the death of about 60% of the dopaminergic neurons in the SN — significantly more than was seen in wild-type mice.

“NCS-1 thus emerges as protective factor during SN dopaminergic degeneration, of likely relevance to Parkinson’s disease,” the researchers wrote.

Finally, the researchers turned to human cells. They took skin cells from volunteers, and engineered these into a type of stem cell called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which were subsequently induced to differentiate into neurons.

The researchers compared iPSC-derived neurons from people without Parkinson’s disease to those of a Parkinson’s disease patient who had a mutation in the GBA gene (such mutations are associated with a high risk of Parkinson’s disease).

No significant differences were found in the amount of Cav2.3 protein; however, levels of NCS-1 were about 40% lower in the neurons from the person with Parkinson’s. Although this does not provide definitive proof, it suggests that similar molecular mechanisms might be at play in human Parkinson’s disease.

“Collectively, our data strongly suggest opposing roles for Cav2.3 and NCS-1 in Parkinson’s disease,” the researchers said, adding that “Cav2.3 is neurodegenerative whereas NCS-1 is protective for SN dopaminergic neurons. Whether this involves any direct functional or molecular interactions between the two proteins must be clarified in future experiments.”

“Cav2.3 and NCS-1 thus emerge as potential targets for neuroprotective therapy,” they added.

Although a recent Phase 3 clinical trial (NCT02168842) using DynaCirc (isradipine) — a medicine used to treat high blood pressure — to block another type of calcium channel, called Cav1.3, showed that it did not protect against Parkinson’s disease, the authors believe that the therapeutic dose given may not have been sufficient to fully inihibit this channel in dopaminergic neurons. Alternatively, inhibiting this specific type of calcium channel may “be protective only under distinct conditions, e.g. before motor symptoms manifest, or in response to transiently elevated dopamine levels during dopamine replacement therapy,” they added.

Currently, the only available Cav2.3 inhibitor (SNX-482) is not suitable to be used in a clinical setting “due to off target effects.” As such, the “development of high affinity, brain-permeable, and selective Cav2.3 channel blockers is warranted,” the researchers said.

https://parkinsonsnewstoday.com/2019/11/18/mouse-study-implicates-calcium-channel-neuronal-death/

Michael J. Fox, Ryan Reynolds and Tracy Pollan light up the night at Parkinson's fundraiser in NYC

By DAN HECHING FOR DAILYMAIL.COM    NOVEMBER 17, 2019

It was an event to raise money and awareness for the research foundation that bears his name, and he had some help from a fellow film superstar.

Michael J. Fox was joined by Ryan Reynolds, along with Fox's wife Tracy Pollan, at A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Cure Parkinson's, a charity event held in New York City on Saturday night to benefit the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's research.

The 58-year-old Back To The Future star, who was diagnosed with the disease in the early '90s, looked dashing in a dark grey suit at the event, which hosted comedians and musical guest Sheryl Crow.  

Best in threes: Michael J. Fox was joined by Ryan Reynolds, along with wife Tracy Pollan, at A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Cure Parkinson's, a charity event in NYC on Saturday

Ryan, 43, went in a completely different direction with his choice of formal wear, donning a three piece maroon suit replete with double-breasted vest and kerchief in the breast pocket. The Deadpool star wore a grey tie, white dress shirt, and left a five-o'clock shadow on his handsome face.

Handsome couple: The 58-year-old Back To The Future star, who was diagnosed with the disease in the early '90s, looked dashing in a dark grey suit, while his wife sparkled in metallics

Michael's wife of 31 years Tracy, 59, was pretty in a houndstooth-patterned metallic silver V-neck dress, which featured off-the-shoulder straps and a pleated skirt with low hem.  Pollan wore a double string of gorgeous jewels around her neck.  

For a truly special moment, Michael and Tracy were joined for a Fox family portrait by all four of their children: Sam Michael, 30, twins Schuyler Frances and Aquinnah Kathleen, 24, and Esme Annabelle, 18

Gorgeous couple: Moore looked tastefully gorgeous as usual, in a partially sheer lace black maxi dres, joined by her filmmaker husband Bart Freundlich

Others joining the festive evening included Oscar-winning actress Julianne Moore and her director husband Bart Freundlich, who recently teamed on his film After the Wedding.

Moore looked tastefully gorgeous as usual, in a partially sheer lace black maxi dress which featured delightfully ornate pattern work.  

Another celebrity couple who attended were Ali Wentworth and George Stephanopoulos, with Ali in an on-trend textured sequinned navy blue ensemble.

Performer for the evening Sheryl Crow posed outside the event with Michael and Tracy, wearing an overlarge black blazer dress and silver necklace.

Music legend Joan Jett also wore a black blazer, and paired it with an all-black outfit underneath. 

One of the comedians set to perform for the evening, Colin Quinn chose an understated look for the night, featuring a dark grey suit and unbuttoned light-blue dress shirt.

Look who they found: Fellow comedian Denis Leary was spotted inside the event, in a striped blue sports jacket and dressed-down denim jeans

Rocking out: Michael also hit the stage with the songstress, accompanying her on guitar at one point

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-7694185/Michael-J-Fox-Ryan-Reynolds-Tracy-Pollan-light-night-Parkinsons-fundraiser-NYC.html