Introduction

Approximately 10 million people worldwide are currently living with Parkinson's. Meta-analysis of worldwide data reveals that the prevalence of Parkinson's increases with age, quadrupling from a level of almost 0.5% in the seventh decade of life to approximately 2% for those over the age of 80. Other sources report that Parkinson's affects 1.5-2% of the population aged over 60. Parkinson's is associated with the loss of dopamine-producing neurons in the substantia nigra of the midbrain. It is typified clinically by resting tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia and a number of non-motor features such as anosmia, sleep behaviour disorder, depression, autonomic dysfunction, and cognitive dysfunction. The aetiology of this disease is not fully understood, but it is believed that environmental and genetic factors may be causative. These include various lifestyle factors such as tobacco use, dietary intake, and physical activity that will be discussed in this course. This first of four courses in a series will specifically address nutrition and sleep hygiene for people with Parkinson's.

Aims

The purpose of this course is to introduce lifestyle medicine approaches involving nutrition and sleep hygiene that have therapeutic and preventive potential in relation to Parkinson’s.

Outline

This course is made up of videos, reading, discussions and a final quiz. The course content is split into the following sections:

1. Video
2. Reading activity
3. Quiz

Target audience

This course is aimed at Physiotherapy and Physical Therapy clinicians, students and assistants. Other interested professionals such as athletic trainers, occupational therapists, nurses or medical doctors interested in this subject are also invited to participate.