April 17, 2025 • 30 mins
April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month. While many of us may be aware of the disease because of actor Michael J. Fox's battle, we might not really know what it is, how you get it, etc.
I spoke with John Lehr - the President and CEO of the Parkinson's Foundation
AND, Tuesday, April 22nd is the 55th Anniversary of Earth Day. Kathleen Rogers, President of EARTHDAY.ORG, joined me to discuss how far the event has come and it’s goals this year.
I spoke with John Lehr - the President and CEO of the Parkinson's Foundation
AND, Tuesday, April 22nd is the 55th Anniversary of Earth Day. Kathleen Rogers, President of EARTHDAY.ORG, joined me to discuss how far the event has come and it’s goals this year.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to iHeartRadio Communities, a public affairs special focusing on
the biggest issues impacting you. This week, here's Many Munho's
and welcome to another edition of iHeartRadio's Communities. As you heard,
I am Manny Muno's. April is Parkinson's Awareness Month, and
(00:21):
while many of us may be aware of the disease
because of actor Michael J. Fox's battle, we might not
really know what it is, how you get it, treatments,
and all of that. So in hopes of bringing a
better understanding to that and yes, bringing some awareness to
those issues, we're lucky to be joined right now by
John Lear. He's president and CEO of the Parkinson's Foundation. John,
(00:42):
I appreciate the time.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Yeah, thank you very much. I appreciate it as well.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Yeah, so let's start off with that. What is Parkinson's disease?
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Yeah, So, Parkinson's is a disease that affects one million
Americans and ninety thousand individuals are newly diagnosed each It
is a progressive degenerative neurological condition, often referred to as
a movement disorder because some of the early signs of
(01:12):
Parkinson's are related to movement. Most people will develop a
resting tremor in their hand or their feet or their leg.
They may have begin to have problems walking or trans
transferring from one position to the other. They might have
some instability with balance and gait. So those are the
(01:36):
signs that a lot of people see. What's interesting about
Parkinson's is is that there are a lot of non
movement issues like cognitive issues, mental health issues, difficulties with sleep,
some sensory loss, particularly lots of sense of smell. There's
ci issues, so really, in many ways, it's a whole
(01:58):
body disorder. What we also say is that no two
people will have the same type of Parkinson's. Everybody's course
of disease is different, so some people may have very
rapid onset of symptoms and some people's may symptoms may
develop slowly over time. The risk factors for Parkinson's are
(02:19):
The number one risk factor is aging. So this is
a disease that primarily affects people later in life. In
their sixties, seventies, and eighties, about five percent will have
what's called young onset Parkinson's disease. That's actually what Michael J.
Fox had. He's diagnosed I think in twenty so mostly
(02:39):
people are diagnosed later in life.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Does it affect one gender more than others?
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Yeah, there's there's some pretty good evidence that shows of
the million Americans who have the disease, about sixty percent
are male and forty percent are female. So that raises
the question and is, uh, you know, the question of
are there some things about being female that are neuroprotective
(03:07):
against parkinson So there's a lot of research that looks
into that.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
What how do you get it? I mean, are there
are there cultural environmental issues leading to development of Parkinson's?
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Yeah, so again, as we say, you know, it's the
number one risk factor is aging. So interestingly enough, Parkinson's
really takes place in the brain and everybody's born with
dopamine neurons. You know. Dopamine is you know, common term
people have as a good sense. It's really you know,
helps with mood and decision making and things like that.
(03:43):
So we we're born with a finite number of dopamine neurons,
and so over time, over our lifespan, we lose dopamine neurons.
They just sort of die off. Some people's dopamine neurons
die off faster than others. So I think that's just
part of the naturally aging process. We also now know
that there is a genetic component of Parkinson's, and the
(04:05):
Parkinsons Foundation is actually running one of the largest genetic
studies out there. We're testing tens of thousands of individuals
to see if they have one of seven of the
most common genetic mutations. There are also environmental factors and
there are some uh, you know, environmental toxins that have
(04:26):
have a clear indication of a Parkinson's diagnosis, things like
paraquat or agent orange. So really, if you take those
three aging, genetics, and environment you put them together, that's
how you get a you know, diagnosis of Parkinson's. But
most people don't know whether it is you know, from
(04:47):
genetics or whether it is from environmental There's a lot
of interplay, and that's one of the things that I
think researchers are looking into.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
What are some of the most common misconceptions about Parkinson's disease.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Yes, I think one of the most common misconceptions is
that when you're given a diagnosis of Parkinson's and beans
the end is here. That's not the case. People can
live for many years with Parkinson's. They can have very good,
high quality of life with Parkinson's. As I said earlier,
no two people have the same course of disease. So
(05:21):
just on our board, there are people who are you know,
very high functioning and living with Parkinson's. They're working full
time jobs, they're raising families, you know, they're doing all
the things in life. You know, it does require that
you're very adherent to your medical regiment and to exercise.
But as I said, many people can live very well
(05:43):
and for a very long time with Parkinson's. Unfortunately, there
are many people who will have a rapid onset of
the disease symptoms and so you know, but but that's
why it's so important to be aware of what's out there,
the resources out there that are out there, and how
to best take care of yourself.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Are there different stages, different levels of Parkinson's. Is it progressive?
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Yes, it is progressive, so you know the symptoms. A
lot of times people will say, oh, I started having
these symptoms before I even went to a doctor to
get diagnosed. And it does progress over time. And so
there are definitely stages, and in the latter stages, people
can be quite incapacitated, whether that's physically or cognitively or
(06:32):
both so, but like I said, you know, there are
some people who live with Parkinson's for many years were
very very mild or you know, you know, not significant symptoms.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
A couple more minutes here with John Leear, President and
CEO of the Parkinson's Foundation. Yeah, I think Michael J.
Fox was diagnosed in the early nineties, so he's had
it for for more than thirty years, obviously, and I
bring him up because I think he's arguably the best
known person that we would associate with with parkins disease.
(07:05):
Tell me about the Parkinson's Foundation and what your role
is not only in bringing awareness to the disease, but
in terms of treatment and helping people get educated about it.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Yeah. So, along with the Fox Foundation, which was the
foundations founded by Michael J. Fox, the Parkinson's Foundation is
one of the two largest Parkinson's foundations in the world.
Our mission is to help people who are diagnosed with
the disease live their best life, that is, to have
the best healthcare they can possibly have, the best quality
(07:39):
of life they can have, while at the same time
we invest resources into new and better therapies for Parkinson's disease.
The interesting thing or an interesting thing about Parkinson's. Is
the mainline therapy, the primary therapy used for people with Parkinson's,
Carbondopa Libadopa has been around for sixty plus years and
(08:00):
it's still the main drug. I think. I think everybody
who's affected by Parkinson's would say, we need new and
better drugs. So that's one of the things that the
Parkinson's Foundation is focused on. We pride ourselves on being
the trusted and go to source for all information and
resources related to Parkinsons, and our website, parkinson dot org
(08:22):
that's parkinson dot org has just tremendous information and resources
for people who are interested or living with interested in
Parkinson's or living with a diagnosis of Parkinson's. And I
can say that our website traffic has doubled in the
last four years, and we're really we're proud of the
(08:42):
fact that we put out so much great information. We
also have a helpline which is one eight hundred four
PD info. That's eight hundred four PD info, And if
you want to talk to somebody who's an expert in
Parkinson's care live, you can call that number during working
hours in the United States and you'll get somebody who's
very knowledgeable about Parkinson's and who can answer your questions
(09:04):
or direct you to resources in your local community. So
we also spend a lot of our resources on improving
care standards of care, and we support a global care
network of sixty four Centers of Excellence, mostly here in
the United States and in Canada, but around the world
as well. We do that to subsidize the care of
(09:25):
people with Parkinson's, but also to learn about what's happening
in those clinics. Are there new treatments, Are there new
techniques that are being used that can benefit people far
and wide. So and we're always testing out new ideas,
working with our partners around the country, around the world
to find new and better therapies, clinical therapies for people
(09:46):
with Parkinson's. And then lastly, we invest a lot of
money in research, in basic research to understand, you know,
the causes and basic biology of the disease, in genetics,
because that's an area that we think actually could lead
to new and better therapies. And then finally, we have
a partnership with Parkinson's UK in Great Britain for drug
(10:08):
discovery and development, and we've got fourteen plus therapies actively
in development that could eventually become new drugs for people
with Parkinson's.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
That's wonderful, and I was just reading, like so much
in medicine these days, it seems like, hopefully we're also
pretty close to enormous breakthroughs when it comes to the
early detection of Parkinson's disease. Is that right?
Speaker 2 (10:30):
That's absolutely right. So I think a lot of great
work has been done in the last couple of years
on what are known as biomarkers. You know, these are
things that can tell you, through like a blood test
or a spinal tap or a skin biopsy, do you
have Parkinson's, yes or no? Until now, Parkinson's has always
(10:51):
been diagnosed clinically, and we also know that there are
different parkinsonisms and those require different treatment modality. So having
greater specificity and earlier detection of parkinson can provide all
sorts of better pathways to new and better therapies for
people living with a disease.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
What would be some of the first things that somebody
would look for. Would it be, as you mentioned early
on in our conversation, the you know, the kind of
shaking of the hand, the problems with balance or walking,
or would those be the first things somebody would see.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Yeah, typically the resting tremor, difficulty in writing, people's writing
tends to get much smaller. Those are those are among
the early signs. A woman who I work very closely
with who was diagnosed, she had pain in her shoulder.
But I will say, you know, you could have a
resting tremor and it's just a resting tremor. You could
(11:51):
have pain and you know, in your shoulder, and it's
just a pain in your shoulder. So that's why we
really recommend people that if you see these signs of Parkinson's,
go to your doctor. Ask them, does this look like Parkinson's?
Should I see a neurologist or should I see a
movement this sort of specialist. Don't live with the signs
(12:11):
and symptoms, you know, undetected, because it could be Parkinson's
or it could be something else.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
What is a diagnosis like? If you do, go to
a doctor to determine if you have Parkinson's or not.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Yeah, so you know, again, as I said, the clinician
will diagnose you based on clinical signs and symptoms. They
will very strongly encourage you to begin exercising. It used
to be that we told people not to exercise many
many years ago because we were worried that a fall
or a trip could lead to you know, adverse outcomes.
(12:45):
But now we know that exercise is probably the best
thing to keep people, you know, from falling and from
having those types of you know, injuries when they're walking.
So building up coarse strength exercise, you know, is really
a key thing. So our clinicians will tell you we
all should exercise, but for people with Parkinson's, it really
is one of the most important things. Depending on what
(13:08):
stage you're at. They may also put you on dopamine
therapy dopamine replacement therapy to help replace some of the
dopamine you're losing naturally through parkinson So that's those are
the two main things. And then there's also things like
diet and exercise, diet and sleep management things that really
(13:29):
affect people with Parkinson's. But you know, a trained neurologist
or movement to sort of specialists can really develop a
good treatment regimen for people with parkinson What.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Role does does mental health play into the Parkinson's care
and how it's managed.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yeah, so you know, always having a positive attitude is critical,
I think with any chronic disease or any illness impact.
The unfortunate thing about Parkinson's is that, you know, it's
the deplete dopamine in your brain, and dopamine has a
has a lot of effect on mood. So it's depressing
(14:09):
to have a chronic disease like Parkinson's. But actually, uh,
the depression is is a part of the disease or
the mental health issues are part of the disease because
you're losing dopamine on your brain, which is really good
for motivation and uh and and you know, just things
like that. So it's really important for people with Parkinson's
(14:31):
to get mental health counseling if they need it. We
always say, you know, parkinson should be treated by more
than just a neurologist or a primary care physician. Uh.
It requires physical therapy, occupational therapy, mental health therapy, sometimes
speech therapy. So it's a whole it's a whole body
disorder that requires a full uh complement of clinicians.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
What's the most common question or concern you yet from
a family affected by parkins is that caregiver for example?
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Yeah, so I think it's like a couple of things.
It's just you know, is this going to change our life.
And and the fact is in some cases not so
much in the fact, and in other cases it's going
to change it a lot, depending on the court, you know,
the course of the person's disease. Care partners are an
enormous component of Parkinson's. People with a good you know,
(15:27):
with a care partner who is well informed and who
also takes care of themselves often do much better than
people who are on their own. So if if you're
on your own, find a friend, If you don't have
a spouse or a family member, find a friend or
somebody in the community to help you with this disease,
or get involved. There's lots of support groups around the country.
(15:48):
You can get involved with the Parkinson's Foundation. One of
the one of the incoming chair of our people with
Parkinson's Advisory Council said on a radio owner just last week,
don't do this alone right, getting as involved as you
possibly can. That's one of the silver lining of the
diseases that there's a big community out there of people
(16:11):
who want to help you live your best life.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
The website is Parkinson dot org Parkinson dot org and
the phone number to call if you've got questions or
need some help eight hundred four PD info. That would
be PD as in Parkinson's disease. Eight hundred the number
four p D I n FO. He's John Lee Or,
President's CEO of the Parkinson's Foundation. Thanks so much for
(16:37):
the time, the information for what you're doing. John, Thank
you so much.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Be well, thank you very much, my pleasure.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Tuesday, April twenty second is well, not only is it
earth Day, it's they're celebrating their fifty fifth anniversary of
the event. This year's theme our Power, our Planet. Let's
talk about what it all means and how far this
event has come with Kathleen Rogers, President of Earthday dot org.
Earthday dot Org. Kathleen, I appreciate the time.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
I'm so glad to be here.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Yeah, I was surprised it's been around fifty six years.
This is the fifty fifth anniversary.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
I know I wasn't around for the first one. But
the person who started at Dennis Hayes, is still our
chair emeritith. He started it along with gay Lord Nelson
and has been an incredible force in terms of bringing
earth Day not just to twenty million people in nineteen seventy,
(17:35):
but taking us global and we're now in one hundred
and ninety two countries and about a billion people directly
participate in Earth Day every year.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Well, that's that's absolutely stunning. Let's talk about how far
we've come, Right, what was the original goal of fifty
six years ago? Now, I guess when Earth Day was
first conceived.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
So this is I think the best part of the
story is that prior nineteen seventy, most of the conservation
movement that existed, and there were only a handful of groups,
sort of the John Muir types that were interested in
national parks conservation for hunting or fishing. But Birthday became
(18:15):
that amazing line that was crossed, and what people were
out on the streets demonstrating about was health because after
one hundred and fifty years of industrial development, it became
painlesslly obvious. Rivers were on fire, you couldn't see across
the street during rush hour in LA kids were having
(18:36):
horrible birth effects, cancer rates were skyrocketing, pollution was everywhere,
and really obvious that our health was in danger. And
so the message of Earth Day was super unique because
it transformed the community as it existed from one focus
solely on national parks and hiking and that sort of
(18:58):
thought thing, hunting, fishing into a massive demonstration in support
of protecting the health of not just species but our
own species. And it came absolutely the story of Earth Day,
and every law that passed, give or takes a couple
in the three or four years that came after Earth
(19:19):
Day were completely focused on human health, toxic chemicals, clean air,
clean water. All of these laws came into being or
were reformed in the days, weeks, months that followed Earth Day,
and it was bipartisan. People really cared about health.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
How has it changed in these fifty five years the goals,
I guess when you've accomplished so much, the goals kind
of change, you broadened the scope of what you're trying
to accomplish.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Yeah, I mean, we've had a lot of things happen
that changed everything. I mean, the emergence of climate first
as of a concern that and worry now depending on
who you're talking to, existential really changed the dynamics. So
when we just when I think everybody in the movement
(20:12):
thought that some of the biggest things clean air, clean water,
we needed, drinkable air, breathable I mean drinkable water, and
breathable air. Really everybody sort of thought we were at
least part way there. Then climate change plastics, which I
think is as bad as climate change. These things have
all emerged as issues that are dramatically affecting our health,
(20:34):
and this time not even individuals cancer rates, but literally
whether we'll have enough. The weather will change so dramatically,
the droughts, the floods, the hurricanes, et cetera. All of
these things are taking a gigantic toll on people's pocketbooks.
On farming and ranching, we're very communic, you know, in
(20:54):
communication constantly with farming groups about the impacts on their
ability to grow food. So these two emerging issues, plastics
and climate change, I think, have dominated the scene. And
then you have, unfortunately, you have great companies, absolutely great companies.
And then you have companies who spend outspend us a
(21:17):
thousands of dollar, you know, a thousand bucks for every
dollar wee can raise, and make our lives really really
difficult and the lives of people they're impacting. So I
think industry, some certain parts have become incredibly sophisticated, and
now that battle is much more difficult and expensive, and
you can't be everywhere at once. But on the other hand,
(21:40):
Earth Day and many many other groups work with really
great companies every day that have are concerned not just
about whether their products are good and what the impact
will be, but actually want to be in the vanguard.
Because young people coming up and this is polls all
over the place show this. They want to work for
companies that are good, and so that is a driving
(22:02):
thing for companies as well. The other part is climate change,
I think, and plastics, although we don't really have any
good substitutes for it, or we have substitutes for it,
don't get me wrong, but not something that can be
converted overnight. I think the health impacts of plastic are
becoming so astonishing, whether it's plastics in your brain, plastics
(22:23):
in the placentas, plastics from the mattresses that are going
into children's brains. If you saw those stories coming out yesterday,
you have an emergence of issues and it's really hard
to keep up with them because climate change is everywhere
and plastics are everywhere. So Earth Day is really about
getting people involved, whether it's doing a clean up or
(22:44):
planting tree, taking their kids out. But it's also about activism.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
I don't want to steer this towards politics because of
the forum we're speaking in today. But there's this there
are certain things that we could all agree on despite
the potential political agendas. And I think one of those
you're kept talking about, mentioning it repeatedly on there plastics,
the pollution and the damage that that's doing to everything
(23:13):
all around us. And it kind of feels like I
get the message. It is all over and around us
all the time, but it doesn't feel like we're making
much of a dent at all, despite what feels like
global efforts to do something about the plastics everywhere.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
Well, part of the problem is plastic is, at least
when it starts out, is made out of oil. So
if you've got a bunch of oil companies that are
seeing the handwriting on the wall, and these companies look
down the road ten twenty years for the most part,
you're going to have a bunch of what they call
stranded assets. In other words, there's going to be an
a lot of oil left over, but no one wants
to burn it. So the big push for oil companies,
(23:54):
and they're straight up about it. It's in the Wall
Street Journal all the time. The big area for growth
is plastic. But unfortunately, the science is catching up with it,
and nobody wants to get sick. I can't believe when
you drink purified bottled water, whatever it is, that there
might be two hundred and forty thousand micrograms if plastic
in our drinking water. You can't escape it. And plastic
(24:17):
lasts for a thousand years, and it does not break
down in your body, and your body can't eliminate it
like other toxics, so we've got to address it. But again,
it's an enormously useful product. I use it unfortunately as
infrequently as I can, but I still use it. Right,
perfect environmentalist, even you, Right, No, I do all sorts
(24:39):
of stuff that is screwed up. Trust me. I'm like
an insane recycler. But I'm sure half the stuff I'm
recycling with great passion doesn't end up being recycled, because
only six percent of plastics gets recycled, maybe if you're lucky,
depending on the place, six or eight percent. The rest
of it goes into our bodies or landfills or the ocean.
But again, this is kind of negative talking, and I
(25:00):
don't want to be negative, because there's something about the
United States That is absolutely true. Is well. Two things
is we're an incredibly resourceful, wonderful country that has figured
out its way out of all sorts of environmental and
technical problems, and we will do it. It just requires
(25:21):
a couple of things. It requires green consumers, people who
care about their pocketbooks but also care about their kids' health,
because we can't be perfect. This stuff is not cheap.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Yeah, not at all. Right, it's hard to balance. It's
hard to balance those.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
Two, yes, especially now. I think what's important is everybody
tries to do something, but if we're not vocal about it.
I looked up the word environment when I took the job,
and you know what it means. It means what the
definition is what surround you. And if what surround you
becomes polluted, whether you can see it or not, it's
time for you to take action. Because really people start
(25:55):
with what is going on in their immediate lives, whether
it's what's going on in our air, our kids have asthma,
what are the cancer rates? The other day I lined
up all the states on all the major diseases, and
straight down the line they were the same twenty places,
fifteen places. There's a reason there last. Their highest in
the rates of cancer, highest in the rates of asthma,
(26:17):
highest in the rates of all these other diseases. And
if we don't look at it critically, meaning thoughtfully, then
we're not able to fix the problem. And if we
have a bunch of people, even myself, like you should
see me. I mean, I'm good. I'm imperfect as an environmentalist,
I definitely am, but I do what I can. But
(26:39):
there's nothing worse than me. I'm big on picking up
volunteering to pick up stuff. I go down to the Potomac,
clean it up back and I'm back down there a
week later, and it's just the same. I'm not doing
the right thing because I'm not going after the source.
But it takes a lot, because I also do this
for a job, for me to say, Okay, I'm going
to go call city count so I'm going to find
(27:00):
out what the where this pollution came from, et cetera,
et cetera. And so again, we can't be everywhere all
at once. So I'd also recommend on ours a pick
and choose your battles. What's important to you, what's important
to your community, What do you think you can fix
talk to people. It's not left, it's not right, it's
not center. It's health and its community.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Last thing for you, Kathleen Rodgers, president of Earthday dot org.
This year's theme our Power unplaneted. Why that and what
does it mean?
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Well, here's the thing. You know, the oil companies can
say what they want, but the train is less of station, solar, wind, geothermal,
All of these things are not only abundant and inexhaustible,
but they're coming down in price. And right now there
are states like Oklahoma, which is moving away from fossil
fuels and natural gas and they're moving to solar. There
(27:58):
are seven countries that run one hundred percent or renewable energy.
It doesn't cost them a dime for the materials, and
there are forty other countries that have at least fifty
percent and solars going through the roof here, can we
stop it? Yes? If you put terrafs on solar panels,
you know, et cetera, et cetera. What do you want
oil burning in your schools and sprewing stuff out around
(28:20):
your kids on the playground or do you want solar
panels on the roof. It's not that hard to figure out.
We love our children, we love our communities, and so
we're focusing on this little wave that we see and
I think it's going to be a big one where
the world. It's inexorable. It is going to happen. You
cannot stop it. I don't care who you are, what,
(28:40):
leader of what country, solar, wind, geothermal, all of these
things are here to stay and they're going to grow. Now.
Can you do it tomorrow? Absolutely not, But can you
do it and invest in it and create lots of
jobs for Americans? Absolutely. Some of the biggest plants, solar plants,
and news that are in pristine condition, air conditioned, healthy
(29:03):
places to work are in states where they're actively moving
against renewable energy. It makes no sense. So in my sense,
I mean money, and it means jobs, and it also
means health. And I find renewable energy incredibly amazing. I'll
stop with this thing, but I really mean it. God
(29:23):
said let there be light, and I think we should
take advantage of it.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
We each have to do our one little part. Earth
Day is Tuesday, April twenty second. That is Kathleen Rogers,
president of earthday dot Org. Continue doing what you're doing.
We appreciate you and thank you for the time.
Speaker 3 (29:41):
Yeah, thank you. It's really great being here. Thank you
for having me.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
And that'll do it for another edition of Iheartradios Communities.
I'm manning Wuno's until next time.
Welcome to iHeartRadio Communities, a public affairs special focusing on
the biggest issues impacting you. This week, here's Many Munho's
and welcome to another edition of iHeartRadio's Communities. As you heard,
I am Manny Muno's. April is Parkinson's Awareness Month, and
(00:21):
while many of us may be aware of the disease
because of actor Michael J. Fox's battle, we might not
really know what it is, how you get it, treatments,
and all of that. So in hopes of bringing a
better understanding to that and yes, bringing some awareness to
those issues, we're lucky to be joined right now by
John Lear. He's president and CEO of the Parkinson's Foundation. John,
(00:42):
I appreciate the time.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Yeah, thank you very much. I appreciate it as well.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Yeah, so let's start off with that. What is Parkinson's disease?
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Yeah, So, Parkinson's is a disease that affects one million
Americans and ninety thousand individuals are newly diagnosed each It
is a progressive degenerative neurological condition, often referred to as
a movement disorder because some of the early signs of
(01:12):
Parkinson's are related to movement. Most people will develop a
resting tremor in their hand or their feet or their leg.
They may have begin to have problems walking or trans
transferring from one position to the other. They might have
some instability with balance and gait. So those are the
(01:36):
signs that a lot of people see. What's interesting about
Parkinson's is is that there are a lot of non
movement issues like cognitive issues, mental health issues, difficulties with sleep,
some sensory loss, particularly lots of sense of smell. There's
ci issues, so really, in many ways, it's a whole
(01:58):
body disorder. What we also say is that no two
people will have the same type of Parkinson's. Everybody's course
of disease is different, so some people may have very
rapid onset of symptoms and some people's may symptoms may
develop slowly over time. The risk factors for Parkinson's are
(02:19):
The number one risk factor is aging. So this is
a disease that primarily affects people later in life. In
their sixties, seventies, and eighties, about five percent will have
what's called young onset Parkinson's disease. That's actually what Michael J.
Fox had. He's diagnosed I think in twenty so mostly
(02:39):
people are diagnosed later in life.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Does it affect one gender more than others?
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Yeah, there's there's some pretty good evidence that shows of
the million Americans who have the disease, about sixty percent
are male and forty percent are female. So that raises
the question and is, uh, you know, the question of
are there some things about being female that are neuroprotective
(03:07):
against parkinson So there's a lot of research that looks
into that.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
What how do you get it? I mean, are there
are there cultural environmental issues leading to development of Parkinson's?
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Yeah, so again, as we say, you know, it's the
number one risk factor is aging. So interestingly enough, Parkinson's
really takes place in the brain and everybody's born with
dopamine neurons. You know. Dopamine is you know, common term
people have as a good sense. It's really you know,
helps with mood and decision making and things like that.
(03:43):
So we we're born with a finite number of dopamine neurons,
and so over time, over our lifespan, we lose dopamine neurons.
They just sort of die off. Some people's dopamine neurons
die off faster than others. So I think that's just
part of the naturally aging process. We also now know
that there is a genetic component of Parkinson's, and the
(04:05):
Parkinsons Foundation is actually running one of the largest genetic
studies out there. We're testing tens of thousands of individuals
to see if they have one of seven of the
most common genetic mutations. There are also environmental factors and
there are some uh, you know, environmental toxins that have
(04:26):
have a clear indication of a Parkinson's diagnosis, things like
paraquat or agent orange. So really, if you take those
three aging, genetics, and environment you put them together, that's
how you get a you know, diagnosis of Parkinson's. But
most people don't know whether it is you know, from
(04:47):
genetics or whether it is from environmental There's a lot
of interplay, and that's one of the things that I
think researchers are looking into.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
What are some of the most common misconceptions about Parkinson's disease.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Yes, I think one of the most common misconceptions is
that when you're given a diagnosis of Parkinson's and beans
the end is here. That's not the case. People can
live for many years with Parkinson's. They can have very good,
high quality of life with Parkinson's. As I said earlier,
no two people have the same course of disease. So
(05:21):
just on our board, there are people who are you know,
very high functioning and living with Parkinson's. They're working full
time jobs, they're raising families, you know, they're doing all
the things in life. You know, it does require that
you're very adherent to your medical regiment and to exercise.
But as I said, many people can live very well
(05:43):
and for a very long time with Parkinson's. Unfortunately, there
are many people who will have a rapid onset of
the disease symptoms and so you know, but but that's
why it's so important to be aware of what's out there,
the resources out there that are out there, and how
to best take care of yourself.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Are there different stages, different levels of Parkinson's. Is it progressive?
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Yes, it is progressive, so you know the symptoms. A
lot of times people will say, oh, I started having
these symptoms before I even went to a doctor to
get diagnosed. And it does progress over time. And so
there are definitely stages, and in the latter stages, people
can be quite incapacitated, whether that's physically or cognitively or
(06:32):
both so, but like I said, you know, there are
some people who live with Parkinson's for many years were
very very mild or you know, you know, not significant symptoms.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
A couple more minutes here with John Leear, President and
CEO of the Parkinson's Foundation. Yeah, I think Michael J.
Fox was diagnosed in the early nineties, so he's had
it for for more than thirty years, obviously, and I
bring him up because I think he's arguably the best
known person that we would associate with with parkins disease.
(07:05):
Tell me about the Parkinson's Foundation and what your role
is not only in bringing awareness to the disease, but
in terms of treatment and helping people get educated about it.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Yeah. So, along with the Fox Foundation, which was the
foundations founded by Michael J. Fox, the Parkinson's Foundation is
one of the two largest Parkinson's foundations in the world.
Our mission is to help people who are diagnosed with
the disease live their best life, that is, to have
the best healthcare they can possibly have, the best quality
(07:39):
of life they can have, while at the same time
we invest resources into new and better therapies for Parkinson's disease.
The interesting thing or an interesting thing about Parkinson's. Is
the mainline therapy, the primary therapy used for people with Parkinson's,
Carbondopa Libadopa has been around for sixty plus years and
(08:00):
it's still the main drug. I think. I think everybody
who's affected by Parkinson's would say, we need new and
better drugs. So that's one of the things that the
Parkinson's Foundation is focused on. We pride ourselves on being
the trusted and go to source for all information and
resources related to Parkinsons, and our website, parkinson dot org
(08:22):
that's parkinson dot org has just tremendous information and resources
for people who are interested or living with interested in
Parkinson's or living with a diagnosis of Parkinson's. And I
can say that our website traffic has doubled in the
last four years, and we're really we're proud of the
(08:42):
fact that we put out so much great information. We
also have a helpline which is one eight hundred four
PD info. That's eight hundred four PD info, And if
you want to talk to somebody who's an expert in
Parkinson's care live, you can call that number during working
hours in the United States and you'll get somebody who's
very knowledgeable about Parkinson's and who can answer your questions
(09:04):
or direct you to resources in your local community. So
we also spend a lot of our resources on improving
care standards of care, and we support a global care
network of sixty four Centers of Excellence, mostly here in
the United States and in Canada, but around the world
as well. We do that to subsidize the care of
(09:25):
people with Parkinson's, but also to learn about what's happening
in those clinics. Are there new treatments, Are there new
techniques that are being used that can benefit people far
and wide. So and we're always testing out new ideas,
working with our partners around the country, around the world
to find new and better therapies, clinical therapies for people
(09:46):
with Parkinson's. And then lastly, we invest a lot of
money in research, in basic research to understand, you know,
the causes and basic biology of the disease, in genetics,
because that's an area that we think actually could lead
to new and better therapies. And then finally, we have
a partnership with Parkinson's UK in Great Britain for drug
(10:08):
discovery and development, and we've got fourteen plus therapies actively
in development that could eventually become new drugs for people
with Parkinson's.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
That's wonderful, and I was just reading, like so much
in medicine these days, it seems like, hopefully we're also
pretty close to enormous breakthroughs when it comes to the
early detection of Parkinson's disease. Is that right?
Speaker 2 (10:30):
That's absolutely right. So I think a lot of great
work has been done in the last couple of years
on what are known as biomarkers. You know, these are
things that can tell you, through like a blood test
or a spinal tap or a skin biopsy, do you
have Parkinson's, yes or no? Until now, Parkinson's has always
(10:51):
been diagnosed clinically, and we also know that there are
different parkinsonisms and those require different treatment modality. So having
greater specificity and earlier detection of parkinson can provide all
sorts of better pathways to new and better therapies for
people living with a disease.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
What would be some of the first things that somebody
would look for. Would it be, as you mentioned early
on in our conversation, the you know, the kind of
shaking of the hand, the problems with balance or walking,
or would those be the first things somebody would see.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Yeah, typically the resting tremor, difficulty in writing, people's writing
tends to get much smaller. Those are those are among
the early signs. A woman who I work very closely
with who was diagnosed, she had pain in her shoulder.
But I will say, you know, you could have a
resting tremor and it's just a resting tremor. You could
(11:51):
have pain and you know, in your shoulder, and it's
just a pain in your shoulder. So that's why we
really recommend people that if you see these signs of Parkinson's,
go to your doctor. Ask them, does this look like Parkinson's?
Should I see a neurologist or should I see a
movement this sort of specialist. Don't live with the signs
(12:11):
and symptoms, you know, undetected, because it could be Parkinson's
or it could be something else.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
What is a diagnosis like? If you do, go to
a doctor to determine if you have Parkinson's or not.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Yeah, so you know, again, as I said, the clinician
will diagnose you based on clinical signs and symptoms. They
will very strongly encourage you to begin exercising. It used
to be that we told people not to exercise many
many years ago because we were worried that a fall
or a trip could lead to you know, adverse outcomes.
(12:45):
But now we know that exercise is probably the best
thing to keep people, you know, from falling and from
having those types of you know, injuries when they're walking.
So building up coarse strength exercise, you know, is really
a key thing. So our clinicians will tell you we
all should exercise, but for people with Parkinson's, it really
is one of the most important things. Depending on what
(13:08):
stage you're at. They may also put you on dopamine
therapy dopamine replacement therapy to help replace some of the
dopamine you're losing naturally through parkinson So that's those are
the two main things. And then there's also things like
diet and exercise, diet and sleep management things that really
(13:29):
affect people with Parkinson's. But you know, a trained neurologist
or movement to sort of specialists can really develop a
good treatment regimen for people with parkinson What.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Role does does mental health play into the Parkinson's care
and how it's managed.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yeah, so you know, always having a positive attitude is critical,
I think with any chronic disease or any illness impact.
The unfortunate thing about Parkinson's is that, you know, it's
the deplete dopamine in your brain, and dopamine has a
has a lot of effect on mood. So it's depressing
(14:09):
to have a chronic disease like Parkinson's. But actually, uh,
the depression is is a part of the disease or
the mental health issues are part of the disease because
you're losing dopamine on your brain, which is really good
for motivation and uh and and you know, just things
like that. So it's really important for people with Parkinson's
(14:31):
to get mental health counseling if they need it. We
always say, you know, parkinson should be treated by more
than just a neurologist or a primary care physician. Uh.
It requires physical therapy, occupational therapy, mental health therapy, sometimes
speech therapy. So it's a whole it's a whole body
disorder that requires a full uh complement of clinicians.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
What's the most common question or concern you yet from
a family affected by parkins is that caregiver for example?
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Yeah, so I think it's like a couple of things.
It's just you know, is this going to change our life.
And and the fact is in some cases not so
much in the fact, and in other cases it's going
to change it a lot, depending on the court, you know,
the course of the person's disease. Care partners are an
enormous component of Parkinson's. People with a good you know,
(15:27):
with a care partner who is well informed and who
also takes care of themselves often do much better than
people who are on their own. So if if you're
on your own, find a friend, If you don't have
a spouse or a family member, find a friend or
somebody in the community to help you with this disease,
or get involved. There's lots of support groups around the country.
(15:48):
You can get involved with the Parkinson's Foundation. One of
the one of the incoming chair of our people with
Parkinson's Advisory Council said on a radio owner just last week,
don't do this alone right, getting as involved as you
possibly can. That's one of the silver lining of the
diseases that there's a big community out there of people
(16:11):
who want to help you live your best life.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
The website is Parkinson dot org Parkinson dot org and
the phone number to call if you've got questions or
need some help eight hundred four PD info. That would
be PD as in Parkinson's disease. Eight hundred the number
four p D I n FO. He's John Lee Or,
President's CEO of the Parkinson's Foundation. Thanks so much for
(16:37):
the time, the information for what you're doing. John, Thank
you so much.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Be well, thank you very much, my pleasure.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Tuesday, April twenty second is well, not only is it
earth Day, it's they're celebrating their fifty fifth anniversary of
the event. This year's theme our Power, our Planet. Let's
talk about what it all means and how far this
event has come with Kathleen Rogers, President of Earthday dot org.
Earthday dot Org. Kathleen, I appreciate the time.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
I'm so glad to be here.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Yeah, I was surprised it's been around fifty six years.
This is the fifty fifth anniversary.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
I know I wasn't around for the first one. But
the person who started at Dennis Hayes, is still our
chair emeritith. He started it along with gay Lord Nelson
and has been an incredible force in terms of bringing
earth Day not just to twenty million people in nineteen seventy,
(17:35):
but taking us global and we're now in one hundred
and ninety two countries and about a billion people directly
participate in Earth Day every year.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Well, that's that's absolutely stunning. Let's talk about how far
we've come, Right, what was the original goal of fifty
six years ago? Now, I guess when Earth Day was
first conceived.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
So this is I think the best part of the
story is that prior nineteen seventy, most of the conservation
movement that existed, and there were only a handful of groups,
sort of the John Muir types that were interested in
national parks conservation for hunting or fishing. But Birthday became
(18:15):
that amazing line that was crossed, and what people were
out on the streets demonstrating about was health because after
one hundred and fifty years of industrial development, it became
painlesslly obvious. Rivers were on fire, you couldn't see across
the street during rush hour in LA kids were having
(18:36):
horrible birth effects, cancer rates were skyrocketing, pollution was everywhere,
and really obvious that our health was in danger. And
so the message of Earth Day was super unique because
it transformed the community as it existed from one focus
solely on national parks and hiking and that sort of
(18:58):
thought thing, hunting, fishing into a massive demonstration in support
of protecting the health of not just species but our
own species. And it came absolutely the story of Earth Day,
and every law that passed, give or takes a couple
in the three or four years that came after Earth
(19:19):
Day were completely focused on human health, toxic chemicals, clean air,
clean water. All of these laws came into being or
were reformed in the days, weeks, months that followed Earth Day,
and it was bipartisan. People really cared about health.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
How has it changed in these fifty five years the goals,
I guess when you've accomplished so much, the goals kind
of change, you broadened the scope of what you're trying
to accomplish.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Yeah, I mean, we've had a lot of things happen
that changed everything. I mean, the emergence of climate first
as of a concern that and worry now depending on
who you're talking to, existential really changed the dynamics. So
when we just when I think everybody in the movement
(20:12):
thought that some of the biggest things clean air, clean water,
we needed, drinkable air, breathable I mean drinkable water, and
breathable air. Really everybody sort of thought we were at
least part way there. Then climate change plastics, which I
think is as bad as climate change. These things have
all emerged as issues that are dramatically affecting our health,
(20:34):
and this time not even individuals cancer rates, but literally
whether we'll have enough. The weather will change so dramatically,
the droughts, the floods, the hurricanes, et cetera. All of
these things are taking a gigantic toll on people's pocketbooks.
On farming and ranching, we're very communic, you know, in
(20:54):
communication constantly with farming groups about the impacts on their
ability to grow food. So these two emerging issues, plastics
and climate change, I think, have dominated the scene. And
then you have, unfortunately, you have great companies, absolutely great companies.
And then you have companies who spend outspend us a
(21:17):
thousands of dollar, you know, a thousand bucks for every
dollar wee can raise, and make our lives really really
difficult and the lives of people they're impacting. So I
think industry, some certain parts have become incredibly sophisticated, and
now that battle is much more difficult and expensive, and
you can't be everywhere at once. But on the other hand,
(21:40):
Earth Day and many many other groups work with really
great companies every day that have are concerned not just
about whether their products are good and what the impact
will be, but actually want to be in the vanguard.
Because young people coming up and this is polls all
over the place show this. They want to work for
companies that are good, and so that is a driving
(22:02):
thing for companies as well. The other part is climate change,
I think, and plastics, although we don't really have any
good substitutes for it, or we have substitutes for it,
don't get me wrong, but not something that can be
converted overnight. I think the health impacts of plastic are
becoming so astonishing, whether it's plastics in your brain, plastics
(22:23):
in the placentas, plastics from the mattresses that are going
into children's brains. If you saw those stories coming out yesterday,
you have an emergence of issues and it's really hard
to keep up with them because climate change is everywhere
and plastics are everywhere. So Earth Day is really about
getting people involved, whether it's doing a clean up or
(22:44):
planting tree, taking their kids out. But it's also about activism.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
I don't want to steer this towards politics because of
the forum we're speaking in today. But there's this there
are certain things that we could all agree on despite
the potential political agendas. And I think one of those
you're kept talking about, mentioning it repeatedly on there plastics,
the pollution and the damage that that's doing to everything
(23:13):
all around us. And it kind of feels like I
get the message. It is all over and around us
all the time, but it doesn't feel like we're making
much of a dent at all, despite what feels like
global efforts to do something about the plastics everywhere.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
Well, part of the problem is plastic is, at least
when it starts out, is made out of oil. So
if you've got a bunch of oil companies that are
seeing the handwriting on the wall, and these companies look
down the road ten twenty years for the most part,
you're going to have a bunch of what they call
stranded assets. In other words, there's going to be an
a lot of oil left over, but no one wants
to burn it. So the big push for oil companies,
(23:54):
and they're straight up about it. It's in the Wall
Street Journal all the time. The big area for growth
is plastic. But unfortunately, the science is catching up with it,
and nobody wants to get sick. I can't believe when
you drink purified bottled water, whatever it is, that there
might be two hundred and forty thousand micrograms if plastic
in our drinking water. You can't escape it. And plastic
(24:17):
lasts for a thousand years, and it does not break
down in your body, and your body can't eliminate it
like other toxics, so we've got to address it. But again,
it's an enormously useful product. I use it unfortunately as
infrequently as I can, but I still use it. Right,
perfect environmentalist, even you, Right, No, I do all sorts
(24:39):
of stuff that is screwed up. Trust me. I'm like
an insane recycler. But I'm sure half the stuff I'm
recycling with great passion doesn't end up being recycled, because
only six percent of plastics gets recycled, maybe if you're lucky,
depending on the place, six or eight percent. The rest
of it goes into our bodies or landfills or the ocean.
But again, this is kind of negative talking, and I
(25:00):
don't want to be negative, because there's something about the
United States That is absolutely true. Is well. Two things
is we're an incredibly resourceful, wonderful country that has figured
out its way out of all sorts of environmental and
technical problems, and we will do it. It just requires
(25:21):
a couple of things. It requires green consumers, people who
care about their pocketbooks but also care about their kids' health,
because we can't be perfect. This stuff is not cheap.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Yeah, not at all. Right, it's hard to balance. It's
hard to balance those.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
Two, yes, especially now. I think what's important is everybody
tries to do something, but if we're not vocal about it.
I looked up the word environment when I took the job,
and you know what it means. It means what the
definition is what surround you. And if what surround you
becomes polluted, whether you can see it or not, it's
time for you to take action. Because really people start
(25:55):
with what is going on in their immediate lives, whether
it's what's going on in our air, our kids have asthma,
what are the cancer rates? The other day I lined
up all the states on all the major diseases, and
straight down the line they were the same twenty places,
fifteen places. There's a reason there last. Their highest in
the rates of cancer, highest in the rates of asthma,
(26:17):
highest in the rates of all these other diseases. And
if we don't look at it critically, meaning thoughtfully, then
we're not able to fix the problem. And if we
have a bunch of people, even myself, like you should
see me. I mean, I'm good. I'm imperfect as an environmentalist,
I definitely am, but I do what I can. But
(26:39):
there's nothing worse than me. I'm big on picking up
volunteering to pick up stuff. I go down to the Potomac,
clean it up back and I'm back down there a
week later, and it's just the same. I'm not doing
the right thing because I'm not going after the source.
But it takes a lot, because I also do this
for a job, for me to say, Okay, I'm going
to go call city count so I'm going to find
(27:00):
out what the where this pollution came from, et cetera,
et cetera. And so again, we can't be everywhere all
at once. So I'd also recommend on ours a pick
and choose your battles. What's important to you, what's important
to your community, What do you think you can fix
talk to people. It's not left, it's not right, it's
not center. It's health and its community.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Last thing for you, Kathleen Rodgers, president of Earthday dot org.
This year's theme our Power unplaneted. Why that and what
does it mean?
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Well, here's the thing. You know, the oil companies can
say what they want, but the train is less of station, solar, wind, geothermal,
All of these things are not only abundant and inexhaustible,
but they're coming down in price. And right now there
are states like Oklahoma, which is moving away from fossil
fuels and natural gas and they're moving to solar. There
(27:58):
are seven countries that run one hundred percent or renewable energy.
It doesn't cost them a dime for the materials, and
there are forty other countries that have at least fifty
percent and solars going through the roof here, can we
stop it? Yes? If you put terrafs on solar panels,
you know, et cetera, et cetera. What do you want
oil burning in your schools and sprewing stuff out around
(28:20):
your kids on the playground or do you want solar
panels on the roof. It's not that hard to figure out.
We love our children, we love our communities, and so
we're focusing on this little wave that we see and
I think it's going to be a big one where
the world. It's inexorable. It is going to happen. You
cannot stop it. I don't care who you are, what,
(28:40):
leader of what country, solar, wind, geothermal, all of these
things are here to stay and they're going to grow. Now.
Can you do it tomorrow? Absolutely not, But can you
do it and invest in it and create lots of
jobs for Americans? Absolutely. Some of the biggest plants, solar plants,
and news that are in pristine condition, air conditioned, healthy
(29:03):
places to work are in states where they're actively moving
against renewable energy. It makes no sense. So in my sense,
I mean money, and it means jobs, and it also
means health. And I find renewable energy incredibly amazing. I'll
stop with this thing, but I really mean it. God
(29:23):
said let there be light, and I think we should
take advantage of it.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
We each have to do our one little part. Earth
Day is Tuesday, April twenty second. That is Kathleen Rogers,
president of earthday dot Org. Continue doing what you're doing.
We appreciate you and thank you for the time.
Speaker 3 (29:41):
Yeah, thank you. It's really great being here. Thank you
for having me.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
And that'll do it for another edition of Iheartradios Communities.
I'm manning Wuno's until next time.
Host
Manny Munoz
Popular Podcasts
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Decisions, Decisions
Welcome to "Decisions, Decisions," the podcast where boundaries are pushed, and conversations get candid! Join your favorite hosts, Mandii B and WeezyWTF, as they dive deep into the world of non-traditional relationships and explore the often-taboo topics surrounding dating, sex, and love. Every Monday, Mandii and Weezy invite you to unlearn the outdated narratives dictated by traditional patriarchal norms. With a blend of humor, vulnerability, and authenticity, they share their personal journeys navigating their 30s, tackling the complexities of modern relationships, and engaging in thought-provoking discussions that challenge societal expectations. From groundbreaking interviews with diverse guests to relatable stories that resonate with your experiences, "Decisions, Decisions" is your go-to source for open dialogue about what it truly means to love and connect in today's world. Get ready to reshape your understanding of relationships and embrace the freedom of authentic connections—tune in and join the conversation!