Parkinson's Association of San Diego Podcast

If you have Parkinson's, exercise is not an option. Exercise is currently the only known therapy available to everyone that is known to slow the progression. But, an exercise program has to be a bit fluid, changing with the flow of Parkinson's. Sometimes this means your exercise targets, or goal posts, move daily, sometimes yearly, but they always move. In this short podcast, Jeff looks...

As the team prepares for the 7th international trek for people with Parkinson's, led by nurse practitioner Sherrie Gould, we completed a 4-day training weekend in the western Sierra Mountains consisting of back to back five to 10 mile hikes at elevation.  The group arrives in Bali June 9th for an 8-day trek though this amazing Indonesian island. These treks are "because we can!" The...

MEDRythms, and it's company, Movive, are redefining how music therapy can be combined with technology to potentially improve your walking and mobility. In this episode, MEDRythms founder Brian Harris tells us about the company, the technology, and the results they are seeing in people with Parkinson's. Check out MEDRythms, click here. Click here for the Parkinson's Association of Sa...

BALI...the seventh international trek for people with Parkinson's led by nurse practitioner Sherrie Gould. Today is our traditional first training day hike around Lake Poway. This is a short, 3-mile walk on bumpy and rocky terrain and is the first of dozens of training hikes as the team prepares for eight days of 10-mile hikes in June with lots of elevation changes, challenging terrain, and t...

The Parkinson's Plan is a new book by Drs. Michael Okun and Ray Dorsey. On January 27, 2026 Michael and Ray came to San Diego for a stop on their international book tour to talk about the causes, treatments, and living well with Parkinson's disease. This is part four of four of the complete two-hour presentation. In this episode we hear the second half of the Q&A session. Check out t...

The Parkinson's Plan is a new book by Drs. Michael Okun and Ray Dorsey. On January 27, 2026 Michael and Ray came to San Diego for a stop on their international book tour to talk about the causes, treatments, and living well with Parkinson's disease. This is part three of four of the complete two-hour presentation. In this episode we hear the first half of the Q&A session. Check out t...

The Parkinson's Plan is a new book by Drs. Michael Okun and Ray Dorsey. On January 27, 2026 Michael and Ray came to San Diego for a stop on their international book tour to talk about the causes, treatments, and living well with Parkinson's disease. This 2-hour event was produced by the Parkinson's Association of San Diego and sponsored by Sharp Healthcare. We are presenting the une...

The Parkinson's Plan is a new book by Drs. Michael Okun and Ray Dorsey. On January 27, 2026 Michael and Ray came to San Diego for a stop on their international book tour to talk about the causes, treatments, and living well with Parkinson's disease. This 2-hour event was produced by the Parkinson's Association of San Diego and sponsored by Sharp Healthcare . We are presenting the un...

"The Syn-One Test is a skin biopsy test that provides accurate pathological evidence to aid in the diagnostic evaluation of patients with clinical features suggestive of a synucleinopathy like Parkinson’s disease." In this episode, Dr. Padma Mahant, the director of medical affairs at CND Life Sciences talks about the test, what can be learned from the results, and looks ahead with some t...

Part of the changes afoot at the Parkinson's Association of San Diego is the joining of Community Liaison Steve Steinberg. This is a new position at PASD. Steve, a licensed clinical social worker, will be picking up the phone and responding to emails, handing all our referral and information conversations. Steve has been leading the young onset support groups and will continue at that but, he...

Today we welcome our new Executive Director Stephanie Murphy. After eight years former executive director Chris Buscher as decided to retire and Stephanie has taken over the reins. With a long career in non-profits and the public sector and a very personal relationship with Parkinson's and the Parkinson's Association of San Diego, we are all excited about what the future holds. Join us a...

What happens when a very public author and journalist decides to tell their audience that they now have Parkinson's? In this powerful episode we meet Annmarie O'Connor, long time fashion editor of the Irish Examiner. Diagnosed in her 40's, join us as Annmarie looks back at the decision to go very public about her journey with Parkinson's. To learn more about Annmarie and her ne...

Back in 2020, as the Covid pandemic began, a few of us got together and started a company called Coach Me Strong, an individualized exercise coaching program for people with Parkinson's. One of the first things we said to anyone who called to learn more about Coach Me Strong was, "No matter what you previous career was, now that you are diagnosed with Parkinson's your new career is...

Dr. Michael Okun, a neurologist at University of Florida, has spent almost 25 years researching Parkinson's and treating people with Parkinson's. Now, in one of the best written and most accessible books ever written on Parkinson's, Dr. Okun and Dr. Ray Dorsey lay out the plan: What causes Parkinson's? What can be done to prevent it? What do you do once you have it? Listen in a...

How do you prepare for your visit with your movement disorders specialist – your doctor, nurse practitioner, or PA? In this episode filled with practical guidance, Sherrie Gould, NP, CMRD, continues with her series about working with your medical care team. Bring your care partner, write everything down, have your questions ready. Sherrie looks at this and much more as you get ready for your Parki...

We recently crossed the threshold of 100 podcasts and it's become an amazing collection of information related to living a better life with Parkinson's. However, it's always been difficult to find specific information in a specific episode...you had to scroll through all the titles. We solved that this week with our new PASD Microcast Directory. Search by category, search by keyword...

In this episode we continue our series with Sherrie Gould, NP, CMRD on the relationship between you and your care team. Sherrie looks at the benefits and value of seeing an advanced practice provider – a nurse practitioner or physician's assistant and provides some insight on the training, education, and experiences APPs have in the care of Parkinson's and other movement disorders.

If you have Parkinson's, should you see a neurologist who is a movement disorders specialist? A general neurologist? An advanced practice provider –  nurse practitioner or PA? Or your primary care physician. Although this may seem like an obvious series of questions, in this episode nurse practitioner Sherrie Gould unpacks some of the differences between these medical professionals and some o...

When we conceived the topic for this microcast the idea was to talk about the differences for a coach working wth older athletes and younger athletes, or older people with Parkinson's who have to exercise and younger people, with or without Parkinson's, who want to exercise.  However, as the conversation developed, the apparent differences became less and less obvious.  Join Coach Tracey...

We hear occasionally that our website is so full of useful and important information about Parkinson's and each person's journey with Parkinson's that sometimes it can be overwhelming. Where to start? Where to look? What do I need today to help me? To help ease that information-overload, we just created a series of "Quick Link" pages, basically landing pages to streamline...

In episode #93 in June of 2024 we met Dr. Vamsi Chavakula for a discussion on MR-Guided Focused Ultrasound. Now we're back with part 2.  Dr. Chavakula, affiliated with Sharp Healthcare, has recently completed his 50th MR-Guided Focused Ultrasound procedure for people with Parkinson's disease and essential tremor. In this episode we look at recent advancements in the technology, discuss s...

In this episode we meet Dr. Anna Halbeisen, a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine board-certified in emergency medicine, sports medicine as well as neuromusculoskeletal/osteopathic manual medicine. We talk with Dr. Halbeisen about exercise and how that impacts your body from a medical perspective, particularly in people diagnosed with Parkinson's. For more information about Dr. Halbeisen and her g...

June 11, 2025. Mark your calendars. PASD's Director of Operations, Jeff Seckendorf, will attempt to break four world cycling records to support the Parkinson's Association of San Diego. In this episode Jeff switched roles from interviewer to interviewee as Sherrie Gould, NP asked Jeff about the ride, the bike, the velodrome, and what it's like to do an massively difficult event like...

In this slightly longer episode, I was invited to speak to the North County Parkinson's Support Group in Oceanside, CA on the topic of mindfulness. In this half hour we look at rest and recovery for the body and for the mind, the difference between meditation and meditative, and we do a short, three minute guided meditation (if you are listening to this while driving, please do not close your...

In this "sleepy" episode we are joined by Dr. Kevin McGehrin, a neurologist at the Neuron Clinic, to discuss issues of sleep in people with Parkinson's. Dr. McGehrin looks at some of the causes of trouble sleeping, discusses REM sleep behavior disorder, and talks about some of the things we can do to help facilitate good sleep. For more information on the Parkinson's Associatio...