What You Need to Know about Sleep, Aging and Parkinson's

Did you know that RBD – REM sleep behavior disorder, or acting out dreams -- can be an early indicator of Parkinson’s? Many people develop sleep issues as they age — with and without PD. Join host Larry Gifford in a rich discussion with expert Stephen Joza, MD, PhD; Allen Dance, recently diagnosed with RBD; and Richie Rothenberg, patient advisor to The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF), with his care partner Julie Merson, on why sleep is important, strategies to tackle sleep problems and the importance of participating in research studies like MJFF’s Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI). The PPMI study is learning more about the connection between RBD and Parkinson’s to understand who gets the disease, who doesn’t and why. And those insights could lead to better treatments and cures. For more information on RBD, visit michaeljfox.org/dreams. More about The Michael J. Fox Foundation Parkinson’s Podcast: Scientific, medical and patient experts on Parkinson’s discuss practical tips on living well with the disease, current research headlines and more in this award-winning podcast. Get involved today, and access free resources at michaeljfox.org. Like our podcasts? Please consider leaving a rating or review and sharing the series with your network. https://apple.co/3p02Jw0Mentioned in this episode:Researchers are studying the link between sense of smell and brain health. People with and without Parkinson's can help by taking a scratch-and-sniff test. It’s free, mailed to your home and takes just 15 minutes to complete. mysmelltest.org/getstarted