Ep. 230 - How You Walk Matters: Movement Disorders that Can Be Mistaken for Parkinson’s disease

Not every walking problem is Parkinson's disease — and assuming it is can cost patients years of proper treatment. Neurologist and movement disorder specialist Dr. Alexander Schtilbans, assistant professor at Weill Cornell Medicine and attending physician at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, joins Dr. Dean Mitchell to break down the many conditions that cause abnormal gait, why they're so frequently misdiagnosed, and what a thorough clinical evaluation actually looks like.Dr. Schtilbans walks through a real case featured in the New York Times Magazine Diagnosis column — a 72-year-old man with "magnetic legs" and progressive difficulty walking who had been treated for Parkinson's for years. The actual diagnosis was normal pressure hydrocephalus, a treatable condition that was identified only after Dr. Schtilbans reviewed the MRI himself and questioned a DAT scan result that didn't match the clinical picture. After a surgical shunt procedure, the patient's walking improved dramatically.The conversation covers the full diagnostic landscape of gait disorders — spinal stenosis, peripheral neuropathy, cerebellar disease, mini strokes, and drug-induced Parkinsonism from medications like antipsychotics and metoclopramide. Dr. Schtilbans also shares his laboratory research on a combination of three supplements — CoQ10, creatine, and TUDCA — that showed a 24% increase in dopamine cell growth and significant reduction in pro-inflammatory markers when tested together on human stem cells derived from Parkinson's patients, despite each supplement failing individually in prior clinical trials.Dr. Schtilbans closes with a strong case for exercise as the only proven intervention to slow Parkinson's disease progression, the emerging role of Apple Watch in tremor monitoring, and practical guidance on how to find a movement disorder specialist no matter where you live.Here is the website for Versamil Brain Dopamine HealthFollow on Facebook Contact Dr. Mitchell:Email: care@mitchellmedicalgroup.comWebsiteInstagramYouTubeFacebookLinkedInOrder your copy of Dr. Mitchell’s latest book, Conquering Candida, here.Be sure to visit ImmunoLytics & use coupon code SmartestDoc for 5% offContact Dr. Mitchell:Email: care@mitchellmedicalgroup.comWebsiteInstagramYouTubeFacebookLinkedInBook: Conquering CandidaImmunoLytics - code SmartestDoc, 5% offApollo Neuro - code SMARTMD