Friday, March 22, 2024

Donations To Parkinson’s Disease Research

Memorial And Tribute Gifts

$7K donation to Parkinson’s research

A memorial gift or gift in honor is a thoughtful way to remember a loved one or dear friend, while at the same time giving hope to others.

When making an online donation, kindly give us the name of the person your gift is in memory/honor of, as well as the name and address of a family member or close friend you wish to notify of your gift. After you have made your contribution, an acknowledgement letter will be sent to the designated family member or friend and a tax receipt will be sent to you. Please know that we will not specify the amount of the donation in the acknowledgement to the family.

Memorial and honorary contributions to the American Parkinson Disease Association are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.

New Research Explores The Possibilities Biomarkers Offer In Early Detection Accurate Diagnosis And Effective Treatment For Parkinsons Disease

Parkinsons disease affects nearly 1 million people in the United States. We expect that number to grow to 1.2 million by 2030. In our recent webinar, Matt Stern, MD, a renowned expert in the field of Parkinsons disease, shared updates on the current state of Parkinsons research. He also discussed ongoing research and new discoveries that offer hope for people suffering from Parkinsons and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Dr. Stern is a professor of neurology, co-founder of the Parkinsons Disease and Movement Disorder Center at the University of Pennsylvania, and founding director of the Parkinsons Disease Research, Education and Clinical Center at the Pennsylvania VA Medical Center.

Parkinsons Disease Middle Stage

In the middle stages of Parkinsonâs, tremors, rigidity, and other movement symptoms will progress. The individual may experience more problems with walking and balance issues that will make falls more common. This can be coupled with slower mental processing, language, and with visual-spatial difficulties. Youâll need to help with basic personal care such as bathing, dressing, and brushing teeth.

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How To Become A Brain Donor

Although decisions surrounding life and death matters are never easy topics to address, the best time to think about brain donation is now. If you are considering brain donation, talk with your family and friends early in your decision-making process. This may reduce stress and misunderstandings at the time of donation. The opinions of family, friends, spiritual leaders, and others in your community may be helpful as you decide whether donation is right for you.

If you decide to donate your brain, consider enrolling in a study soon to provide the most value to researchers and future generations. NIA-funded Alzheimers Disease Research Centers have brain donation programs for their study participants. Contact your nearest center to find out if youre eligible to participate.

My mother believed in education and service to others. This is an opportunity for others who believe in their community, who believe in research, who have had an interaction with Alzheimers to donate. Its a final gift to those youre leaving behind, participating in the study, knowing that you can be a part of the solution.

Keretha, a participant in the Wisconsin Brain Donor Program

Environmental Factors And Exposures

Ways to Donate

Exposure to pesticides and a history of head injury have each been linked with PD, but the risks are modest. Never drinking caffeinated beverages is also associated with small increases in risk of developing PD.

Low concentrations of urate in the blood is associated with an increased risk of PD.

Drug-induced parkinsonism

Different medical drugs have been implicated in cases of parkinsonism. Drug-induced parkinsonism is normally reversible by stopping the offending agent. Drugs include:

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Parkinsons Disease Late Stage

This is when the person will need assistance with pretty much all of their personal care. As symptoms progress, they will require assistance walking, and eventually it will be impossible to even stand. Some individuals may experience hallucinations and delusions, as well as other non-movement symptoms.

Talk with your medical team about all the ways to help reduce the person you care forâs pain or suffering and increase their comfort. Remember, you are their connection to quality care and services when they can no longer advocate for themselves.

There may come a time when the person living with Parkinsonâs requires a higher level of care than can be provided at home. For some, the transition to a nursing facility can be a tough but necessary decision. You may feel like youâve failed or youâre breaking a promise â even when you know that moving them will provide better care and safety.

If youâre considering a skilled nursing facility, itâs helpful to get a list of local options and be sure to visit. Even if the person you care for is living in a skilled nursing facility, your role as a caregiver does not end. Your presence and advocacy will help ensure that proper care is provided.

Do Symptoms Get Worse

PD does not affect everyone the same way. The rate of progression and the particular symptoms differ among individuals.

PD symptoms typically begin on one side of the body. However, the disease eventually affects both sides, although symptoms are often less severe on one side than on the other.

Early symptoms of PD may be subtle and occur gradually. Affected people may feel mild tremors or have difficulty getting out of a chair. Activities may take longer to complete than in the past. Muscles stiffen and movement may be slower. The persons face may lack expression and animation . People may notice that they speak too softly or with hesitation, or that their handwriting is slow and looks cramped or small. This very early period may last a long time before the more classical and obvious motor symptoms appear.

As the disease progresses, symptoms may begin to interfere with daily activities. Affected individuals may not be able to hold utensils steady or they may find that the shaking makes reading a newspaper difficult.

People with PD often develop a so-called parkinsonian gait that includes a tendency to lean forward, taking small quick steps as if hurrying , and reduced swinging in one or both arms. They may have trouble initiating movement , and they may stop suddenly as they walk .

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Caring For The Mind Body And Spirit

The Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center is the most comprehensive center of its kind in the nation. Barrow neurologists and neurosurgeons are world leaders in deep brain stimulation surgery and treatment for managing the symptoms of movement disorders. In addition to surgical treatment, patients are offered a wide range of recreational therapies, such as group exercise classes and art workshops, and educational classes and support groups that benefit the mind, body and spirit.

Thanks to a generous donation from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation, the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center is taking its innovative care into the homes of housebound patient utilizing telemedicine through the Lonnie and Muhammad Ali Legacy Care Program. The program brings the same high quality care that Muhammad Ali received to patients throughout Arizona.

What Is Parkinson’s Disease

Neuro Talk: Research You Fund with Jim Beck, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer

Parkinsons disease is movement disorder of the nervous system that worsens over time. As nerve cells in parts of the brain weaken or are damaged or die, people may begin to notice problems with movement, tremor, stiffness in the limbs or the trunk of the body, or impaired balance. As these symptoms become more obvious, people may have difficulty walking, talking, or completing other simple tasks. Not everyone with one or more of these symptoms has PD, as the symptoms appear in other diseases as well.

No cure for PD exists today, but research is ongoing and medications or surgery can often provide substantial improvement with motor symptoms.

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Thanks For Signing Up

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What Do We Do To Combat Pd

  • We develop novel gene therapies to halt or reverse the progress of neurodegeneration in the Parkinsonian brain.
  • We repurpose existing pharmaceuticals.
  • We identify and develop unique neuroprotective agents to prevent the cell death associated with PD.
  • We test compounds aimed at minimizing the debilitating movement disorders that are caused by existing drug therapies.
  • We seek out treatments for the non-motor symptoms of PD including depression and GI dysfunction.
  • We genotype PD patients to predict which therapies will be most effective for them.
  • We identify the neuroprotective mechanisms and benefits of early intervention with the surgical procedure known as deep brain stimulation .
  • We invest in adult stem cell therapies to slow, stop or possibly reverse neurodegeneration in PD.
  • We educate the next generation of scientists in the fight against PD.
  • We study the epigenetic consequences of toxicant exposures on the risk for developing PD.

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Donate Through Your Donor

A donor-advised fund is a charitable giving program that allows you to combine the most favorable tax benefits with the flexibility to support your favorite causes.

  • You can contribute cash, securities or other assets to a donor-advised fund. Typically you are eligible to take an immediate tax deduction and then the funds are invested for potential for tax-free growth. You can then recommend grants to any qualified public charity, such as APDA.
  • You can make a one-time gift or set your DAF account to make automatic recurring grants in the amount and frequency of your choice. Its easy to do. Just log into your account on your charitable sponsors website and select recurring option. Its a great way to make your charitable giving more convenient.

If you would like to make a gift now through your DAF, simply to find your fund:

If you have any questions about making a tax-deductible gift to the American Parkinson Disease Association through a DAF, please contact June Colasuonno at 718-981-9202 or at .

This information does not constitute legal or financial advice. Because everyones situation is different, you should seek the advice of your own attorney, tax advisor and/or financial planner.

Brain Donation: A Gift For Future Generations

A Charity CD for Parkinson

Brain donation helps researchers study brain disorders, such as Alzheimers disease and related dementias, that affect millions of people. Learn about why people donate their brains, the process of brain donation, and how you can enroll to make this generous gift.

Our brains are amazing, intricate networks that help us think, love, and breathe. But sometimes things go awry and cause brain disorders, such as Alzheimers disease and related dementias. By studying the brains of people who have died both those who had a brain disorder and those who were healthy during life researchers learn more about how types of dementia affect the brain and how we might better treat and prevent them. Brain donation provides an opportunity to help researchers better understand these disorders, which can lead to improved treatments for future generations.

While many people think that signing up to be an organ donor includes donating their brain, the purpose and the process of brain donation are different. Rather than helping to keep others alive, such as with kidney donation, brain donation helps advance scientific research. One donated brain can make a huge impact, potentially providing information for hundreds of studies. But many brains are needed from diverse populations and ages to help researchers investigate the causes of disease and to develop more effective therapies that can then be applied broadly.

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How Is Parkinsons Disease Diagnosed

There are currently no specific tests that diagnose PD. The diagnosis is based on:

  • medical history and a neurological examination
  • blood and laboratory tests, to rule out other disorders that may be causing the symptoms
  • brain scans to rule out other disorders. However, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging brain scans of people with PD usually appear normal.

In rare cases, where people have a clearly inherited form of PD, researchers can test for known gene mutations as a way of determining an individuals risk of developing the disease. However, this genetic testing can have far-reaching implications and people should carefully consider whether they want to know the results of such tests.

Movement Disorders Research: How You Can Help

Volunteering for clinical trials and donating to our research supports our mission to better understand and treat movement disorders.

Volunteering for clinical trials and donating to our research supports our mission to better understand and treat movement disorders.

Research is a vital part of the mission of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Care at Rush. Our research program is dedicated to finding new ways to treat Parkinson’s disease, slow its progression and find a cure.

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Mapping The Future Of Parkinson’s Disease

PD GENEration: Mapping the Future of Parkinsons Disease is a Parkinsons Foundation initiative that offers genetic testing and genetic counseling at no cost for people with Parkinsons disease . When you participate, you can help scientists in their journey to advance understanding of PD, leading to new, more effective PD therapies.

What Research Is Being Done

Brain Donation

The mission of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke is to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use the knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease. NINDS is a component of the National Institutes of Health , the leading supporter of biomedical research in the world. NINDS conducts and supports three types of research: basicscientific discoveries in the lab, clinicaldeveloping and studying therapeutic approaches to Parkinsons disease, and translationalfocused on tools and resources that speed the development of therapeutics into practice. The goals of NINDS-supported research on Parkinsons disease are to better understand and diagnose PD, develop new treatments, and ultimately, prevent PD. NINDS also supports training for the next generation of PD researchers and clinicians and serves as an important source of information for people with PD and their families.

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What Happens To The Brain During And After Donation

The brain donation center will coordinate and pay for the bodys transportation to a location, such as a medical facility, mortuary or funeral home, for the brain removal to take place. A specialist will carefully remove the brain through the back of the head in a way that does not affect a persons appearance. The donors body is then returned to the family for funeral arrangements. It is important to restate: Brain donation does not affect the deceaseds appearance, so the family may still have an open casket viewing if they wish.

Once removed, the brain is sent to a brain bank. A specialist at the brain bank will perform an autopsy to determine whether the donor had a type of dementia or another brain disorder. Autopsies are important to understanding how diseases affect the structure and function of the brain and can help direct future research. If requested, the family will receive a summary of these findings, typically within three to nine months. The report often provides some definitive answers to family members. In a person who died without a cognitive disorder, the findings are also summarized, and sometimes there may be disease markers in the brain that didnt cause symptoms during life. These individuals are of special interest to researchers so they can learn why some individuals did not become ill despite having typical markers of a disease.

Ask Questions And Share Your Knowledge Of Parkinsons Disease In Our Forums

8. Partners in Parkinsons has a program where you can be connected to an advocate who will listen, offer advice and support to patients and caregivers at no cost. This is just one of the services you can find through Partners in Parkinsons.

9. Caring.com has a support group for caregivers, family and friends of those with Parkinsons disease. No subject is off-limits in this forum.

10. The National Parkinson Foundation has a site specifically geared to caregivers. They help carers navigate the emotional, financial, and physical challenges they may face caring for someone with Parkinsons.

Having resources that help keep you informed, and offer support and encouragement to patients and their loved ones is so important. These are just 10 of the hundreds of organizations out there that are available to you. You can search online or visit your local library for more.

MORE:Eleven facts about Parkinsons disease you may not know.

Parkinsons 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.

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Why Is It Important To Donate Brain Tissue

Around 12 million people in the UK are living with a neurological condition and, as the average age of the population increases, the number of people developing dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases will increase rapidly. Research is needed to find new and better treatments for a wide range of conditions.

In many cases, this research will involve the study of human tissue from someone who has died . Indeed, in many conditions examination of post-mortem brain tissue is the only way to make a definitive diagnosis to confirm or alter the diagnosis that the doctors have made during the donors life.

Researchers are making great advances in neuroscience and other diseases where the brain may play a part but there is still much we dont understand about the human brain and examining brain tissue is vital to increasing this knowledge.

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