Episode Overview: Imagine a world where doctors and patients work closely together, where hospitals are designed with you in mind. Joe sits down with Dr. Okun from the well-known Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases at the University of Florida Health. They dive deep into how this institute, born in…
By Michael S Okun One of the big stories of 2023 in Parkinson’s disease was the emergence of a ‘seeding assay’ as a potential biomarker for Parkinson’s disease. We keep hearing over and over about a ‘Parkinson’s breakthrough.’ I prefer to think of the current moment in Parkinson’s history as…
This is a really terrific article in everydayhealth.com discussing skin cancers and the importance of making the diagnosis and initiating appropriate treatment. Does it surprise you that if you happen to have Parkinson’s disease, you are at twice the risk for the development of a…
A lot of buzz has been generated as a result of the emergence of skin biopsies and DaTscans as potential diagnostic tests for Parkinson’s disease and for ‘parkinsonisms.’ The promise and the hope of these tests has been accompanied by ‘confusion’ as to ‘what they are’ and ‘when to…
The news of a significant breakthrough in the development of a Parkinson’s disease biomarker spread at near hypersonic speed and it generated a ton of excitement in the field. What does it all mean? What is this biomarker and where did it come from? Will it affect me if I…
Now that I have entered my third decade of practicing as a Parkinson’s neurologist, I have observed an expansive number of ‘vitamin and supplement based strategies’ designed to treat Parkinson’s. April is Parkinson’s awareness month, and I thought it would be fun to share what I have learned about vitamins…
By Jean Cibula, MD, FAES Well, this isn’t quite the item that I had planned to write. My original intention was to talk about diets for the New Year. Obviously, I procrastinated. Maybe next time. I’m sure everyone is following the news about COVID- 19. We at the University of Florida…
Traveling to Movement Disorder Specialist I was excited to be on a Sunday road trip on December 2, 2018, to Gainesville, Florida to meet Dr. Michael Okun, world-renowned movement disorder specialist. In 2002, Dr. Okun and Dr. Kelly Foote formed the University of Florida Health Center for…
By Jean Cibula, MD, FAES On May 9, 2019, the Google doodle (the picture or animation on the Google search page) highlighted Dr Lucy Wills, a British hematologist who first identified folic acid. Folic acid is one of the B vitamin family (also known as vitamin B9). She studied macrocytic (large…
We’re in the midst of cold and flu season, and a very common question is what medications are safe to take with seizure medications if you have a respiratory bug. In general, fever and lack of sleep will be the biggest problems for people who are ill and have epilepsy.
