Unpacking the science behind coffee, tea, and their potential impact on Parkinson's disease in this special episode of Live Parkinson's Live and Exceptional Life!
Join us as we navigate the ongoing debate about caffeine and Parkinson's. Is your morning cup of joe a helpful friend or a sneaky foe? We'll explore the latest research on coffee's potential neuroprotective effects and how it might influence Parkinson's symptoms. We'll also delve into the world of tea, examining its range of antioxidants and their possible benefits.
But it's not a one-size-fits-all answer. Learn how to navigate your own caffeine consumption with Parkinson's and make informed choices to optimize your well-being.
Don't miss this episode if you're looking to:
Understand the latest research on coffee, tea, and Parkinson's.
Discover how caffeine might impact your symptoms.
Learn strategies to manage your caffeine intake and optimize your Parkinson's management.
This episode is for you if:
You're living with Parkinson's and enjoy coffee or tea.
You're looking for evidence-based information on caffeine and Parkinson's.
You want to optimize your diet and lifestyle for better management.
Don't miss out! Share your questions and experiences in the comments below, and join our vibrant Parkinson's community.
Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only is not intended to treat or diagnose Parkinson's Disease. Please ensure that you are following the treatment plan developed by your doctor. Please ensure before starting anything new you get approval from your doctor. The information being provided is based on my own personal experiences and does not guarantee that it will benefit everyone.
Unpacking the science behind coffee, tea, and their potential impact on Parkinson's disease in this special episode of Live Parkinson's Live and Exceptional Life!
Join us as we navigate the ongoing debate about caffeine and Parkinson's. Is your morning cup of joe a helpful friend or a sneaky foe? We'll explore the latest research on coffee's potential neuroprotective effects and how it might influence Parkinson's symptoms. We'll also delve into the world of tea, examining its range of antioxidants and their possible benefits.
But it's not a one-size-fits-all answer. Learn how to navigate your own caffeine consumption with Parkinson's and make informed choices to optimize your well-being.
Don't miss this episode if you're looking to:
Understand the latest research on coffee, tea, and Parkinson's.
Discover how caffeine might impact your symptoms.
Learn strategies to manage your caffeine intake and optimize your Parkinson's management.
This episode is for you if:
You're living with Parkinson's and enjoy coffee or tea.
You're looking for evidence-based information on caffeine and Parkinson's.
You want to optimize your diet and lifestyle for better management.
Don't miss out! Share your questions and experiences in the comments below, and join our vibrant Parkinson's community.
Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only is not intended to treat or diagnose Parkinson's Disease. Please ensure that you are following the treatment plan developed by your doctor. Please ensure before starting anything new you get approval from your doctor. The information being provided is based on my own personal experiences and does not guarantee that it will benefit everyone.
Hello and welcome to Live Parkinson's Live an Exceptional Life. I'm your host, chris Kastenbotter, and I've been living an exceptional life with Parkinson's for the past 14 years. The mission of this podcast is to help as many people living with Parkinson's as possible lead a great quality of life. Today's topic is Parkinson's and caffeine friend or foe Demystifying the coffee and tea debate Friend or foe? We're going to dive deep into the debate on coffee, tea and Parkinson's, separating fact from fiction. Now, as a person living with Parkinson's myself, I'm on a mission to uncover the truth about coffee and tea, because I'll enjoy both, and so if you'll join me on this journey to see if there are beverages that can help our Parkinson's symptoms. Now I always like to tell you what we're going to be talking about, to make it easier for you if you have limited time, and so that you'll know when we'll be discussing the information that's most important to you. So I want to give you a bird's eye view of what I'll be discussing in this podcast. First, we'll set the stage by discussing caffeine and Parkinson's. We'll look at the neuroprotective benefits and how caffeine might be involved. Then we'll look at some of the ongoing research with caffeine and its potential benefits in reducing the risk or progression of Parkinson's. Then we'll take a closer look at coffee and Parkinson's. We'll explore the specific effects of coffee on Parkinson's, including the benefits and the drawbacks. Then we'll explore the potential of tea in Parkinson's, including the benefits and the drawbacks. Then we'll explore the potential of tea in Parkinson's. We'll discuss the different types of tea and the potential health benefits of each one. Then we'll talk about the link between tea consumption and PD and explain the role of antioxidants in tea and their potential benefits. Finally, we'll talk about making informed decisions on drinking coffee and tea with caffeine. So I hope you'll join me on our journey about these tasty beverages.
Speaker 1:
Let me be honest with you right up front. I don't drink regular coffee or other caffeinated beverages on a regular basis, because too much caffeine makes me jittery, I feel spacey and it makes my tremors worse. So I say to myself Chris, why do you want to torture yourself with too much caffeine? Not saying that I won't have a cup of regular coffee or have a caffeinated soda, but if I do, I try to balance it out with the rest of the day by drinking decaffeinated drinks or just plain water. So the research on caffeine and Parkinson's and coffee and Parkinson's was a really good learning experience for me and I hope it's going to be for you as well.
Speaker 1:
Let's start off by looking at caffeine and Parkinson's and what effect caffeine has on motor and non-motor symptoms. But first I wanted to answer the question what is caffeine and why do we consume it? You know, most of us have heard of caffeine, of course, and many of us drink it in beverages every day. But if I ask most of you what it is, I'm sure I'll get an answer similar to well, it's a stimulant that helps keep us alert and awake, and that's true. But is there more to the story than it's just a stimulant?
Speaker 1:
Where does caffeine come from? Well, caffeine is a natural stimulant that is consumed worldwide. It's most commonly found in tea, coffee and cacao plants. So how does caffeine affect our body? Well, once it's consumed, caffeine is quickly absorbed from our gut into the bloodstream, where it travels to the liver, where it's broken down into compounds that can affect various organs. Caffeine's primary effect, however, is on the brain, and it works by blocking the effects of a neurotransmitter called adenosine, which normally relaxes the brain and makes you feel tired. By connecting to the adenosine receptors in the brain without actually activating them. Caffeine reduces tiredness and helps you stay awake. It also increases blood adrenaline levels and adrenaline is involved in our flight and fight response and brain activity of neurotransmitters like dopamine, neuroepinephrine, promoting alertness and focus. And we're familiar with dopamine. So where do you find it?
Speaker 1:
Again, I mentioned earlier that tea, coffee and cacao plants are the primary source. Now here's some fun facts that you can use the next time you play trivia with your family and friends. The first brewed tea dates back to 2737 BC, while coffee was discovered later by an Ethiopian shepherd who noticed its energizing effect on his goats. Now that I've filled your head with some useless information, here's a few statistics to further take up some brain cells that you might use later on to complete a project that you're working on. 80% of the world's population consumes a caffeinated product every day, with about 90% of adults in North America. Don't you feel so much smarter now? Now, in terms of health and safety, recent research suggests that caffeine has several health benefits, including improved mood, brain function, metabolism and fat burning, and exercise and performance.
Speaker 1:
Now, before you jump into the deep end with both feet and start consuming more caffeine by more cups of coffee or your caffeinated soda or tea. There are some negative impacts and side effects that you need to consider first, and two of the big ones are on sleep and anxiety, because caffeine can play a major role in sleep disruption as well as anxiety. So it's important to consider how much caffeine you're going to be consuming based on how it affects you, and so you know if you have a lot of caffeine, you may have trouble sleeping. I know that happened to me. I went to one of my friends' house years ago and we were playing cards in some different board games and he had some Diet Pepsi. So I probably had five or six glasses of diet Pepsi over the course of the evening, and then I went home and I'm laying in bed staring at the ceiling. I'm thinking what is going on here? Why can't I fall asleep? Then it dawned on me that I drank way too much caffeinated soda before bed, so it's important that you know how caffeine is going to affect you. Now I also know people that can drink coffee any time of the day, or they can drink it right before bed and not have any problems with sleep, but I'm not one of those people. So what's the recommended dosage of caffeine per day.
Speaker 1:
Well, according to an article on Healthlinecom, what is caffeine and is it good or bad for your overall health? They cite US Department of Agriculture, or USDA, and the European Food Safety Authority, the EFSA, indicating that they consider a daily intake of 400 milligrams of caffeine to be safe. Now, this amounts to about two to four cups of coffee per day. Now, the article does note that fatal overdoses have been reported with single doses of 500 milligrams of caffeine at one particular time. Therefore, the article recommends that caffeine that you consume at one time is kept to about 200 milligrams per dose.
Speaker 1:
Now that you probably know more than you wanted to know about caffeine, let's turn our attention to the neuroprotective effects and how caffeine may play a role, particularly with Parkinson's. Now, when we say neuroprotective effects and how caffeine may play a role, particularly with Parkinson's, now, when we say neuroprotective effects, what are we talking about? Well, it's essentially the ability of certain substances or behaviors to promote nerve cell or to protect nerve cells or neurons from damage or degeneration which can be caused by factors like aging, disease or injuries. Research suggests that caffeine might and that's the keyword here might have some neuroprotective properties potentially another keyword helping with Parkinson's and other neurodegenerative diseases. Now here's how caffeine might be involved. It might be involved in reduced oxidative stress. You're just thinking, what are you talking about? What is that? Reduced oxidative stress is when you have an imbalance between free radicals and you may have heard of those on different commercials which are damaging molecules and antioxidants in the body, and antioxidants helped to bind to the free radicals and remove them from the body. Now it's linked to neurodegeneration. So if you have an imbalance in free radicals versus antioxidants, then there seems to be a link between that and neurodegeneration. So caffeine might again act as the keyword there, act as an antioxidant or stimulate the body's natural antioxidant defenses. So caffeine may come in to your body and help bind to the free radicals to help neutralize their detrimental effects.
Speaker 1:
The second is protection against protein buildup In Parkinson's. Abnormal proteins like alpha-synuclein and many of you may have heard that clump together and damage neurons. May have heard that clump together and damage neurons. Caffeine might keyword again might influence pathways that regulate these proteins, potentially that's another keyword reducing their harmful effects. So that caffeine is going to help influence the pathways to keep those proteins from clumping which, again, if they clump in the brain they can lead to Parkinson's. And then the third is improved brain function. Caffeine stimulating effects might enhance alertness, focus and cognitive function.
Speaker 1:
While not necessarily neuroprotective in the strictest sense, it can improve the quality of life for people with Parkinson's. Now it's important to note that research on caffeine and caffeine's neuroprotective effects is ongoing and is not conclusive. The benefits might be specific to certain neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's, so it might be effective in Parkinson's and not in Alzheimer's or MS and other neurological diseases. Now, the ideal dosage and long-term effects of caffeine intake for neuroprotection are still being investigated. Now I want to point out that it's crucial to consult with your doctor before making any significant changes to your caffeine intake, especially with Parkinson's or if you take medications that interact with caffeine, because certain medications are going to interact with caffeine and it may boost the effect of caffeine or maybe decrease the effectiveness of the medication, and it's important that you're up front with your doctor on how much caffeine that you typically consume per day. All right, that's enough in caffeine and its potential role in Parkinson's.
Speaker 1:
Let's take a look at coffee and Parkinson's and the specific effects of coffee, and on how it might affect Parkinson's, motor and non-motor symptoms. Now for you coffee drinkers out there, you know that coffee comes in a number of different varieties. There's light, medium, dark, bold, all different kinds of roasts, and there's also a huge number of different flavorings, which is a great thing. I mean. It's nice that there's a lot of variation out there when it comes to choosing coffee. Now, of all these, it doesn't matter which one we choose, but does coffee have any effect, significant effect or benefits on Parkinson's? Well, according to an article, coffee and Parkinson's Protection in the Making that was published by the Parkinson's Foundation in 2023, they note that for years, coffee has been associated with a reduced risk of developing Parkinson's. The article referenced a 1968 study that suggested that coffee drinkers were less likely to get PD. They also noted that multiple epidemiological studies have confirmed the PD coffee connection. Now the research attributed the protective effect to the caffeine component in coffees.
Speaker 1:
However, I didn't know this, and hopefully many of you did, but coffee is more than a thousand different compounds, including sugars, amino acids, organic acids and fatty acids, and one of the fatty acids in coffee is called EHT. I won't try to say the chemical name because it was too long and I'll get all tongue-tied and you'll start to laugh at me and I'll start to cry. No, just kidding. And the EHT has been the focus of the research. Now, in a study in mice, researchers over a six-month period treated groups of two different PD model mice with various combinations of caffeine and the fatty acid EHT. First they looked at how and the mice that had these PD models. They looked at caffeine alone. Then they looked at EHT that fatty acid alone or caffeine and EHT together Because what they wanted to do is study the effects of these compounds on both the brain and the behavior in the mice.
Speaker 1:
There was also a control group of mice who received no treatment. Now the researchers conducted several behavioral tests to study the movement of the mice, as well as study their brains for alpha-synuclein clumps. And of course, the alpha-synuclein clumps result in Lewy bodies which are the pathological hallmark of Parkinson's, neurodegeneration and inflammation. Now the study had some interesting findings. The control group of mice who were untreated had significant amounts of clumped alpha-synuclein in their brains, increased inflammation and a loss of neurons or nerve cells and significant deficits in their behavior tests. Overall, the mice in the EHT group and that was just EHT alone and the caffeine group alone showed either no or minimal improvement in the study. However, the mice treated with a combination of EHT and caffeine together showed a significant improvement in the study measures. So, according to the article, here are the results for the group that received EHT and caffeine together they had less alpha-synuclein clumping in the brain, they maintained better neuron integrity and function and they had less brain inflammation. And then, finally, they displayed less movement symptoms.
Speaker 1:
Well, that sounds nice, but what does that mean in simple terms? Well, according to the article, eht, the fatty acid found in coffee and caffeine, which is also in caffeinated coffee when they're together, it showed to slow down the progression of the neurodegeneration associated with PD in mice, which has potentially readily available therapeutic implications. Now, this study, if it can be replicated by other researchers, then identifying the balance of safety and effectiveness in humans, is a logical next step in the research for coffee and Parkinson's. Now, does that mean you should drink more coffee? Because if coffee has both EHT and caffeine and it seemed to have a good effect on slowing the progression and in terms terms of movement, does that mean, oh, I should boost my coffee intake? No, that's not what it's saying, because too much caffeine can have the detrimental side effects that we talked about earlier. It's going to have an effect on your sleep, it's going to have an effect on your anxiety and it may have a negative effect on your motor symptoms like tremors as well. So it's important to talk to your doctor about the amount of caffeine you should be consuming, based on your individual tolerance and any potential health or medication side effects.
Speaker 1:
Now, in another study, researchers followed 8,004 Japanese American men who were enrolled in the Honolulu Heart Program from 1965 to 1968. And when they analyzed the data over the course of 30 years, so they followed these men. If they enrolled in 1968, they followed them to 1995 and the ones as they started, but the last were enrolled in 1968. So they followed them over a 30-year period and what they wanted to measure was the incidence of Parkinson's by the amount of coffee intake at study enrollment and the total dietary caffeine intake, measured at the enrollment of the study and then six years later during their follow-up. Now, during the follow-up, of those 8,000 men, 102 were identified as having Parkinson's. And so what did the study find? Well, at each examination, increasing the amounts of coffee consumed were associated with the decline in PD incidence. So let me say that again, at each examination, increasing the amounts of coffee consumed were associated with a decline in PD incidence. So let me say that again, at each examination, increasing the amounts of coffee consumed were associated with a decline in PD incidence. For non-coffee drinkers, the risk of PD was two to three times greater than for reported coffee drinkers, than for reported coffee drinkers. Based on the data collected when people enrolled in the study, non-coffee drinkers had a risk of PD more than five times that of men who consumed 28 ounces of coffee or more per day.
Speaker 1:
Again, does this mean that you should start chugging more coffee? Not, unless your doctor gives you the okay and they're going to base that on your individual health needs. Now we've looked at some of the benefits and effects of coffee for people with Parkinson's, but are there any drawbacks? Well, yes, there are some potential drawbacks to consider before you start drinking coffee if you're not a coffee drinker or if you're thinking about increasing your coffee consumption. So what are these drawbacks, you ask? Well, let's take a look at some. First is worsened tremors.
Speaker 1:
Caffeine, as we talked about, is a stimulant and that can make your tremors worse, which can make daily activities more challenging. And that's one of the reasons why I typically don't drink caffeinated coffee and I just stick with decaf coffee and decaffeinated tea, because caffeine makes my tremors worse and it makes it difficult to button my shirt and do a lot of the other fine motor skills activities that I need to do. So that's one of the reasons I tend to shy away from caffeine. Another is anxiety and insomnia. Caffeine can worsen anxiety and I can personally attest to that. After suffering panic attacks for a number of years, I knew that if I drank too much caffeine that it was just going to make the problem worse, and I did a separate podcast on anxiety. So if you're interested, you can check that out.
Speaker 1:
But it can also disrupt your sleep, which is crucial for managing our Parkinson's symptoms and essentially for maintaining your overall health and well-being. But, as I mentioned earlier, sleep and I have a love-hate relationship. I would love to sleep longer and better, but sleep says I hate to see you like that and it keeps waking me up early every day. But I do the best I can with it. But caffeine can have a significant effect on your sleep, so it's important to consider that as well.
Speaker 1:
The third is interaction with medications. Caffeine can interact with some medications used to treat Parkinson's, potentially affecting their effectiveness or causing additional side effects. Do you have any issues with coffee, let me know by clicking in the send text message link in the podcast description. I'd love to hear from you about your caffeine intake and how that affects your motor and non-motor symptoms. Now, some of the things to keep in mind regarding coffee and Parkinson's. Individual sensitivity is the first one. No, not you're a sensitive person, because you know, I think we're all sensitive people, aren't we and you care about others. What we mean here is that people have varying degrees of sensitivity to caffeine. Now, I'm very sensitive to caffeine and my brother is not. But what may worsen symptoms in one person may not affect another person at all. So you should base sure caffeine consumption based on your individual sensitivity. And then timing matters Consuming coffee later in a day is more likely to disrupt sleep for people with Parkinson's. Remember it's important to discuss coffee and caffeine consumption with your doctor. Determine a safe, appropriate level of coffee consumption based on your individual needs. Okay, I think we've thoroughly covered coffee and its effects on Parkinson's, but before I move on to discussing tea and Parkinson's, I wanted to share with you an exciting offer from audiblecom.
Speaker 1:
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Speaker 1:
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Speaker 1:
Slash exceptional life. That's wwwaudiblecom slash exceptional life, and I'll leave a link in the podcast description if you're interested. Now, if you decide to take advantage of the free 30-day trial, I do want to make you aware that Audible pays me a small commission, which I use to support this podcast. So you're under no obligation to become a member, but if you do sign up for the free trial, I thank you for helping to support this podcast.
Speaker 1:
Now let's look at exploring the potential of tea in Parkinson's. Let's start by looking at some facts and statistics around tea. Again, just I'm trying to take up more brain cells that you can use later on for other projects, but just think of how much trivia you'll be able to answer next time you're with friends and family. So tea is the second most widely consumed beverage worldwide, falling only you guessed it water. Three billion yes, I said three billion, that's billion with a B cups of tea are drunk daily across the world. Nearly 160 million Americans consume tea daily. Now the country that currently drinks the most tea is Turkey, followed by Ireland and the United Kingdom. Now here's some additional fun facts for you Black tea is the most commonly consumed type of tea.
Speaker 1:
There are more than 1,000 different varieties of tea available. There are more than 1,000 different varieties of tea available, and green tea has health benefits, including boosting the number of calories burned by up to 4% and reducing the risk of stroke by 35%. Now, types of tea. Most of you are familiar. You've probably been familiar there. Well, there's black tea and green tea, but there's actually six categories, but I'm only going to talk about five of them and I'll talk about some of the benefits that they provide as well. So green tea we'll start off with that one.
Speaker 1:
Green tea is not oxidized. It's roasted and and then dried with steam or oven heat, or it could be pan fried, which prevents oxidation, also known as fixing. This process produces a refreshing tea with sweet, smelling aroma. Green tea has a lighter flavor compared to its black tea counterparts. The next one is yellow tea.
Speaker 1:
Yellow tea is also not oxidized. After fixing, yellow tea's leaves are heaped or piled and then wrapped in a damp cloth to rest for a period. The heat and humidity give the leaves a yellow hue, and yellow tea is scarce and produced mainly in China and very little of it's exported. So if you don't go outside of China it may be very difficult for you to find it. White tea is barely oxidized and has a sweet, subtle flavor. It's mainly processed from the buds only, but sometimes can incorporate the first or second leaf off the tea plant, but sometimes can incorporate the first or second leaf off the tea plant. Oolong spelled O-O-L-O-N-G-S, so it looks like Oolong, I think it's pronounced Oolong are partially oxidized and Oolong teas are some of the most prized due to their intricate processing, which provides a complex flavor that evolves with each sip. And then, finally, black tea. It is fully oxidized and it undergoes a process of withering, rolling, oxidation and drying, and black tea has a robust flavor and it's the most popular worldwide.
Speaker 1:
Well, now that you know probably more than you care to know about tea, does tea have any effect or show any benefits in Parkinson's? Well, according to the article what's Hot in PD, will Drinking Tea Help my Parkinson's Disease? And that was on the parkinsonsfoundationorg. The author's Dr Okun. The author noted that tea is composed of polyphenols, methylxanthin and polyphenol A, caffeine, fats, amino acids and other substances. The article states that flavonoids, caffeine and thionine have been tested in animal models of Parkinson's disease and have shown protection against cell loss in similar areas of the brain that are affected in the human's Parkinson's patient.
Speaker 1:
A meta-analysis of all the studies on tea and Parkinson's risk showed that, across 1,418 cases and 4,250 control patients, there was a protective effect of tea drinking on Parkinson's disease risk. Whether you drank one cup or more cups a day, it didn't have any impact. But what it did show is that there is a protective effect on drinking coffee on Parkinson's disease risk. Now, once the horse is out of the barn, as they say, drinking tea is not going to reduce your risk. In the Singapore Chinese Health Study, the researchers reported on the differential effects of black versus green tea. The people in this study who drank at most one cup of black tea a day but not green tea, decreased their risk of developing Parkinson's disease. Caffeine also reduced the risk of Parkinson's disease.
Speaker 1:
This study supported mounting evidence supporting a caffeine-Parkinson's-related benefit. The study supported mounting evidence supporting a caffeine-Parkinson's-related benefit. Now I mentioned earlier, black teas tend to have more caffeine than green teas, so that may have an effect. Now the Parkinson's article by Dr Michael Okun noted that consumption of caffeine in moderation does seem to be a benefit to the motor symptoms of Parkinson's. Seem to be a benefit to the motor symptoms of Parkinson's.
Speaker 1:
Research is ongoing, but some studies suggest green tea polyphenols the active compounds in green tea may help slow the progression and improve some symptoms in early-stage Parkinson's patients. The research is ongoing and some studies haven't found a definitive link, though More research is needed to fully understand the cause and effect relationship of the green tea and the polyphenols. Research suggests that green tea might hold particular promise. Green tea's polyphenols, especially EGCG, are being investigated for their potential to protect brain cells, and several studies observed a connection between regular tea drinkers and a lower risk of developing Parkinson's. Now, as mentioned earlier, one study found that consuming three or more cups daily lowered the risk by about 62% compared to non-drinkers. In terms of non-motor symptoms, some studies explored the effects on existing Parkinson's, and one study investigated marjoram tea and found that it potentially reduced non-motor symptoms like depression, in conjunction with conventional medications. Now more research is needed to solidify the connection and understand the mechanisms at play here. Now, while the evidence is promising, it's not conclusive.
Speaker 1:
So if you have Parkinson's, call your doctor before making any significant changes to your daily intake of tea or coffee. They can better understand and advise you on your specific condition and the medications. All right, that's all the time we have for today on coffee, tea and Parkinson's. To wrap things up, the research on caffeine and Parkinson's is promising, but it's still in its early stages Now, while coffee might offer some neuroprotective benefits, it can also worsen certain symptoms like tremors, anxiety and sleep.
Speaker 1:
For some people, that would be me. Tea, with its range of antioxidant properties, shows potential too, but more research is going to be needed. Now the key takeaway there's no one-size-fits-all answer. The impact of coffee and tea on your Parkinson's is going to depend on your individual situation. I strongly recommend talking to your doctor about your coffee intake and considering your medications and monitoring your particular response to how the caffeine and the coffee affects you.
Speaker 1:
Now here's what you can do to join the conversation. I'd love to hear your experiences with coffee, tea and Parkinson's conversation. I'd love to hear your experiences with coffee, tea and Parkinson's. Do your research. Remember knowledge is empowering. By working with your doctor and staying informed, you can make informed choices about coffee, tea and your overall well-being with Parkinson's.
Speaker 1:
Before we wrap up the podcast, I do have a favor. Please visit liveparkinsonscom, because there's several free resources on there that can really help you improve your quality of life. The first one is I do a free monthly newsletter, and then there is a medication and symptom tracker that you can use to help prepare for your doctor visits. And then there's a balance nine exercises to help you with your balance, and then there's a one-stop resource guide that includes all the national and regional Parkinson's associations, as well as information on nutrition, exercise, optimism, meditation and community and social interaction. It's free and it's available on liveparkinsonscom, as well as some of the articles that I write.
Speaker 1:
And then, in addition, I'd love to hear from you and, if you could click on this, send a text message link in the podcast description and leave me a message or ask me a question or share a success story. I'd love to hear from you If you have specific topics that you'd like covered. I'd be happy to do that. So I'd appreciate if you could do that, and I thank you for listening and you have a spectacular day and hope to see you on future podcasts. Thanks again.