Beyond Falls: Innovative Balance Solutions for Parkinson's

Balance challenges are a significant concern for individuals living with Parkinson's disease, impacting everything from daily activities to overall quality of life. On this episode of the Live Parkinson's Live and Exceptional Life Podcast, we delve into the exciting world of innovative balance solutions, exploring the cutting-edge technologies and therapies that offer hope for a more stable future. Join us as we go Beyond Falls and uncover the latest advancements in Parkinson's balance management.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The complex ways Parkinson's affects balance, going beyond just motor symptoms.
• Emerging technologies like wearable sensors with AI, and virtual reality and how they're revolutionizing balance assessment and training.
• The potential of targeted drug therapies and brain stimulation techniques to directly address balance impairments.
• The importance of a holistic approach to balance management, incorporating lifestyle factors, exercise, and mental well-being.
• A vision for the future of Parkinson's balance management, where proactive and personalized care empowers individuals to live more confidently.

Don't miss this insightful discussion on the future of balance in Parkinson's!

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Chapters

• 0:10 Innovative Balance Solutions for Parkinson's
• 11:30 Advanced Technologies for Parkinson's Balance
• 18:30 Holistic Approaches to Parkinson's Balance
• 32:59 Empowering Parkinson's Community Through Resources

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:10

Hello and welcome to Live Parkinson's. Live an Exceptional Life, the podcast dedicated to helping you live a great quality of life through strategies, stories and science. I'm your host, chris Kustenbader, and I've been living with Parkinson's for 15 years. Thanks for joining me today Now. I apologize that my voice is a little bit off. I'm just getting over pneumonia, so please bear with me.

Speaker 1: 0:34

Today's topic is Beyond Falls Innovative Balance Solutions for Parkinson's. Every six minutes, someone with Parkinson's falls. That's a sobering reminder of the urgent need for better solutions to help reduce and prevent falls. Today, we're not just talking about managing balance. We're talking about reclaiming lives by helping people with Parkinson's feel more confident in their daily movements. Join me as we explore the groundbreaking innovations that offer a new path forward in the fight against Parkinson's-related balance issues. Now, what do I mean by groundbreaking innovations? Well, what if tiny sensors worn discreetly on your wrist could predict your next fall before it even happens? Or what if virtual reality could retrain your brain to gain lost balance? These aren't science fiction fantasies. They're on the cutting edge of Parkinson's research. Aren't science fiction fantasies. They're on the cutting edge of Parkinson's research. In this episode, we're diving deep into the innovative technologies that are changing the game for balance management, offering a glimpse into the future, where Parkinson's doesn't have to mean a life defined by instability. So if you or someone you know with Parkinson's is having balance and stability problems, I hope you'll join me to learn more about these innovative solutions that may help improve their quality of life.

Speaker 1: 1:48

During my 15-year journey with Parkinson's, I've been fortunate that I haven't fallen. I've had numerous times where I've tripped or stumbled but was able to catch myself by grabbing onto a stationary object or grabbing onto something. It's definitely a scary experience and I sympathize with people who have had falls and the impact it has, both physically and mentally. I wanted to share a personal story on how falls, and even potential falls, can really have an impact on you. Then I'll discuss what we'll be covering in the podcast.

Speaker 1: 2:15

A few weeks ago, my wife Mary and I went to breakfast. It was snowing, so everything was wet and you needed to be really careful when you were walking. We were done eating breakfast and we're leaving the restaurant and on the way out there were these four men at the doorway waiting to be seated. The doorway leads to a small waiting area with benches before you exit the main doors to the outside. Now my wife and I said excuse us, and the men stepped aside so we could get through, and Mary went through the doorway with me right behind, and as I started through the doorway, my left foot slipped on the wet tile floor and then my other foot slipped and I began flailing as I lost my balance. My arms and legs were all over the place and I was sure I was going to fall and slam into the hard tile floor. In addition, I was also headed face first toward the benches, which was really going to hurt. Luckily for me, the two men in the back of the group that were waiting to be seated saw me going and were both able to grab me by the arms and prevent me from falling. Now I thanked them for their kindness and as we were leaving, I was a little lightheaded and was seeing stars from all the flailing and gyrations, and I also strained my back from the twisting. The experience definitely had an impact on me. I was shaken and it left me wanting to ensure I didn't go through that type of experience again, and that's one of the reasons I wanted to share this topic with all of you.

Speaker 1: 3:32

Okay, now that I've hopefully set the stage on why balance is important. What are we going to be talking about in this episode? We're going to start off with an understanding of the current landscape, where we'll examine the effects of Parkinson's on balance and look at how balance impairment in Parkinson's is a multifaceted event in terms of motor, cognitive and sensory effects. Then, as part of the discussion, we'll look at the current standard of care for balance and stability, looking at medications, physical therapy and assistive devices and some of the limitations. Then, in part two, we'll explore emerging and some of the limitations. Then, in part two, we'll explore emerging technologies and therapies. We'll delve into six unique cutting-edge therapies and technologies to help with balance. Then, in part three, we'll discuss the importance of using a holistic approach to managing your balance, and then we'll close that with part four and pull back the curtain and look at the future of balance management. So if you're ready, let's get started, and so we can lean into improving our balance and stability together.

Speaker 1: 4:31

All right, let's start with how Parkinson's impacts balance and why it's a major concern for those of us living with Parkinson's. So what are some of the factors that affect balance in people with Parkinson's? Probably ones that you're most familiar with are the motor symptoms and let's look at how they play a key role in affecting our balance. Rigidity or muscle stiffness and tension can make it difficult to adjust posture and maintain our balance. Bradykinesia, or slowness of movement, can impair the body's ability to react quickly to changes in balance. Everyone's favorite tremors can disrupt stability and make it challenging to perform coordinated movements needed for balance. And then we have freezing of gait, where the sudden and temporarily inability to move your feet can lead to falls when our center of gravity is affected. And finally, stoop posture A forward leaning posture is going to shift our center of gravity, making it harder to stay upright.

Speaker 1: 5:26

Now, in addition to motor symptoms, sensory issues can play a major role in affecting balance. Parkinson's can affect our proprioception, and I've talked about proprioception on another podcast, but in case you missed it, it's like your body's internal GPS system. It lets you know where your body's arms and legs are in space. Now, for example, when you're walking up your upstairs, your body senses where your feet are and then how high they have to lift your leg to get to the next step. Parkinson's can affect the sense of body position and movement, making it harder to understand where the body is in space and how it's moving, which is crucial for maintaining good balance. And another sensory issue which can affect balance is vision problems. Some people with Parkinson's experience vision problems, which can make it difficult to perceive their surroundings and judge distances, especially depth perception, and that's going to have a big impact on your balance.

Speaker 1: 6:21

Now there's some cognitive factors or another area that can impact your balance, your balance. Now, there's some cognitive factors or another area that can impact your balance. Parkinson's can affect cognitive functions, making it harder to focus on maintaining balance while you're performing other tasks, like walking and talking, at the same time. And another factor that can affect your balance and one of my experience myself is autonomic dysfunction. Or, in simple terms, parkinson's can affect your autonomic nervous system, which you can think of as your body's autopilot. It automatically controls essential functions like your heart rate, your digestion, your breathing, without you having to think about it. And Parkinson's can affect the autonomic nervous system, leading to drops in blood pressure when you stand up. I don't know if any of you've experienced that, but it's known as orthostatic hypertension. So when you stand up quickly, you become lightheaded, you could lose your balance and fall. And finally, medication side effects from certain Parkinson's. Medications can cause side effects like dizziness, drowsiness or low blood pressure, which can cause balance problems.

Speaker 1: 7:23

All right now that we know some of the reasons or factors that can affect our balance and stability. Why is this important? Well, because impaired balance from Parkinson's can have some detrimental consequences to our quality of life. The first and most dangerous are increased risk of falls. This can lead to injuries and hospitalizations that can reduce your quality of life. When I used to sell pharmaceuticals, I had a osteoporosis drug and I talked about some different studies, and one of the studies I referenced was that people that experience a hip fracture typically have a 20% chance of dying within the next year. So it's important that we help prevent falls so we can prevent some of those devastating injuries. Secondly, impaired balance can lead to fear of falling, and fear of falling can cause anxiety, which can then lead to social isolation and decreased physical activity, and when you're less active, that can further negatively impact your balance. And then, finally, difficulty with balance can reduce a person's independence, because balance problems can limit your ability to perform daily functions and activities around the house like cooking, exercising, doing the wash. Now, I can personally attest to this, because I typically limit my activities on days when I'm having balance problems.

Speaker 1: 8:43

Now, it's important to note that the impact of Parkinson's on balance is going to vary from person to person. Some individuals may experience mild balance issues, while others might have significant challenges with their balance. So if you or someone you know is experiencing balance problems due to Parkinson's, it's critical to talk with your healthcare professional. They can help you assess specific issues that we've discussed and recommend strategies to help you manage your balance and, hopefully, reduce the risk of falls. Now let's look at some of the current standards of care for balance issues associated with Parkinson's. So if you tell your healthcare provider that you've got balance issues, what are some of the standards of care that they typically use? Well, typically they use a multifaceted approach, and that combines medications, physical therapy and, a lot of times, assistive devices. Now, while all three of these can be helpful, it's crucial to acknowledge that they do have limitations as well. So let's start with medications Now.

Speaker 1: 9:42

The role of medications is primarily to target the motor symptoms of Parkinson's, such as rigidity, bradykinesia and tremor. The hope is, by improving these motor symptoms, it can indirectly improve your balance to some extent. Unfortunately, there are no medications specifically designed to treat balance impairment in Parkinson's. Now the medications that address motor symptoms don't always fully address and resolve balance issues. In addition, medications can have side effects like dizziness, or they can cause orthostatic hypertension, which can worsen balance. So sometimes the things that we take to help us with one problem may actually cause another problem. Also, medications don't address the sensory and cognitive contributions to balance problems.

Speaker 1: 10:29

Now the next standard of care for balance is physical therapy. Physical therapy plays a vital role in helping people to improve their balance, their strength and their mobility. Physical therapists can teach you exercises to help you improve your posture, your coordination and your gait, and they can also teach you exercises to help you improve your posture, your coordination and your gait, and they can also teach you strategies for helping to prevent falls and also to help recover if you start to fall, so that you can catch yourself and actually prevent the fall. Now I've been to physical therapy three times over my 15-year journey with Parkinson's and it was very helpful. I went because I was having issues with my balance and the gait. Now they designed a personalized plan for me that would work together on it, usually twice a week, and then they would recommend that I did the program at home the other days of the week when I wasn't working with them. That way, I could achieve the maximum benefit. Now, the sessions definitely helped me and I was able to successfully improve both my balance and gait from where I started out at baseline on day one.

Speaker 1: 11:30

Now I will tell you that physical therapy is no walk in the park where you're eating your ice cream. You're strolling through the park, taking in all the sights and sounds. The physical therapists really work you hard so that you're seeing improvements in your issue. Now. While physical therapy is very effective, it's like anything else you do. You get out of it what you put into it. The benefits of physical therapy are often maximized when you're working with a physical therapist and then doing the assigned exercises at home. Now, physical therapy definitely requires active participation from the individual to realize its benefits active participation from the individual to realize its benefits. Now, a few limitations with physical therapy are the improvements you gain may not be sustained over the physical therapy sessions unless you're willing to continue to work on them on your own after physical therapy sessions are over. And physical therapy may also be less effective in later stages of Parkinson's Now, when motor symptoms are more severe.

Speaker 1: 12:26

Another current standard of care is assistive devices. Now these would include walkers, canes in wheelchairs. Assistive devices can help provide support to help improve your stability and reduce the risk of falls. They can help people maintain their independence and participate in their daily activities. A clinical study titled Cane Improves Postural Recovery from an Unpracticed Slip During Walking in People with Parkinson's Disease. That was published in the Journal of Physical Therapy, and the study found that using a cane for postural recovery during unpracticed slips during gait was confirmed in this study. And then unpracticed slips would be you're not practicing to fall. These are just slips that naturally occur. Now the authors noted that most of the slips commonly occurring in daily life that could lead to falls in people with PD are unpracticed, meaning they didn't practice falling and have it planned. Therefore, our results suggest that a cane could be an effective and inexpensive aid for a majority of people with PD to prevent falls due to a slip, especially when they need to navigate in unfamiliar environments.

Speaker 1: 13:36

Some of the limitations of assistive devices are that they can sometimes feel cumbersome and stigmatizing. People who may benefit may not want to use them because they feel it shows everyone they have a problem. Also, they don't address the underlying balance problems. Rather, they are used as a compensation strategy to help address a limitation. Finally, choosing the right type of assistive device that is the most appropriate for you requires careful assessment by a trained professional and may need adjustments over time as the disease progresses, and an over-reliance on assistive devices can sometimes lead to decreased muscle strength and further decline in balance if not combined with targeted exercises. All right, now that we understand the current landscape in terms of standards of care for Parkinson's.

Speaker 1: 14:20

Now let's turn our attention to emerging technologies and therapies for balance for people with Parkinson's, and let's start with wearable sensors and AI. So how do these work? Well, small wearable sensors like those on a smartwatch can track movement patterns, gait and even subtle changes in your posture. This data is analyzed by AI algorithms to assess your balance, identify fall risks and provide personalized feedback. Wearable Movement Sensors for Rehabilitation a focused review of technological and clinical advances published by PubMed Central as part of the National Library of Medicine. The authors note that recent technological advancements have enabled the creation of portable, low-cost and unobtrusive sensors with tremendous potential to alter the clinical practice of rehabilitation. The application of wearable sensors to movement tracking has emerged as a promising paradigm to enhance the care provided to patients with neurological or musculoskeletal conditions. They further note that the big data recorded across the applications serve as a pathway to personalized and precision medicine. Serve as a pathway to personalized and precision medicine. Now, some potential benefits of wearable sensors in AI include early detection of balance decline. These sensors can detect subtle changes in balance before a fall occurs for timely intervention. According to the article Wearable Sensor with Artificial Intelligence for Prevention of Falls in Elderly people at fibioncom. So they can help detect changes in balance before you fall.

Speaker 1: 16:03

Next is personalized exercise programs. Ai can tailor exercises to an individual's specific needs and track their progress over time. Exercise is going to help you with your balance, so the sensors can help you do that. Sensors can provide real-time feedback. They provide immediate feedback during exercises like walking, helping individuals maintain correct form so that you maximize the benefits, and by using correct form, you maintain a nice, upright posture and gait, and that's going to help you reduce the risk of falls. They can be used for fall prediction. Ai algorithms can predict the likelihood of a fall, allowing individuals to take precautions and seek assistance. In the study the Applications of Artificial Intelligence for Assessing Fall Risk systematic review that was published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research. The authors concluded the use of AI proves to be a valuable tool for creating predictive models for fall risk.

Speaker 1: 17:08

Now let's move on to the next emerging technology to help people with balance, and that's virtual reality, or VR and augmented reality. Ar reality or VR and augmented reality. Ar. Now, to me this sounds like some kind of science fiction type of stuff you might see in a movie. So what are they and how do they work? Well, let's start with virtual reality, which many of you may have heard of, and virtual reality is a technology that immerses you in a computer-generated environment. So imagine putting on a headset and suddenly finding yourself in a different world, like you're walking on Mars or you're exploring underwater caves and sea life. Virtual reality uses headsets, sometimes gloves or other wearables to make you feel like you're actually there, sometimes gloves or other wearables to make you feel like you're actually there. Augmented reality, on the other hand, overlays digital information onto the real world, so think of it as adding digital content to what you see around you. So what does that mean? Well, for example, using your phone to see how a piece of furniture would look in your living room, or using glasses that give you directions while you walk Now. So how might these work in improving balance for Parkinson's patients? Well, both VR and AR can be incredibly useful for people with Parkinson's, especially for improving your balance.

Speaker 1: 18:30

Now here's how they can be used. Number one they can be immersive simulations. Virtual reality creates controlled environments where patients can practice balance and gait exercises safely. The simulations can minimize real-life scenarios, helping patients improve their motor skills and postural control. Secondly, they're engaging experiences. Turning therapy into a game-like experience can increase patient engagement and adherence to exercises, and that's going to be crucial for long-term improvement. So the more consistent you are, the more improvement that you're going to see. Third is home-based accessibility. Virtual reality platforms like Nintendo Wii Fit allow patients to access therapies from home, which is especially beneficial for people living in remote or rural areas. Four dual benefits Virtual reality not only improves physical balance, but it also enhances cognitive function, like attention and memory, which are important for managing your daily activities. And five personalized protocols Virtual reality technology allows for customized exercises tailored to the patient's abilities and your progress, ensuring therapy evolves with your needs. Now, these five uses of virtual reality are from a great article entitled Virtual Reality for Parkinson's Balance by Parkes Unite.

Speaker 1: 19:55

All right, moving on to our next therapy, which is targeted drug therapies. Now you may be thinking the same thing I was, which is how do targeted drugs help to improve our balance? Well, researchers are exploring new medications that may directly target the underlying mechanisms contributing to balance impairment in Parkinson's. Now, these can include drugs that improve body's appropriate reception, or remember, that's your body's internal GPS. They can help to enhance cognitive function that's related to balance, or they can protect against nerve cell damage. Now, some potential benefits of this type of therapy include directly addressing balancing issues. Unlike current medications, the focus is primarily on motor symptoms. These new drugs could directly target the root causes of balance problems, and they can help improve the quality of life by helping to reduce the risk of falls and by increasing your independence.

Speaker 1: 20:53

All right, next up is brain stimulation techniques. Does this include someone massaging your brain or maybe reading to your brain? No, actually, it uses techniques like deep brain stimulation, or DBS, and transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS Okay, to help modulate brain activity in the areas of the brain involved in balance control. Now, for those of you not familiar with these techniques, let's go over them to give you a little bit better understanding. Now, I'll be honest, I wasn't familiar with transcranial magnetic stimulation. So I learned something from doing the research. Deep brain stimulation involves planting electrodes into specific areas of the brain. These electrodes send electrical impulses to help control abnormal brain activity. Think of it like a pacemaker for the brain. These electrodes send electrical impulses to help control abnormal brain activity. Think of it like a pacemaker for the brain. It's used in Parkinson's to help reduce tremors, stiffness and other symptoms.

Speaker 1: 21:46

According to the article Deep Brain Stimulation by the Cleveland Clinic, now, transcranial magnetic stimulation is a non-invasive treatment that uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in the brain. It typically is used for depression, but researchers are exploring it. It's used for other conditions, including Parkinson's. That's, according to a Healthlinecom article, a TMS session. What they do is they take a magnetic coil and it's placed against the scalp and magnetic pulses are sent to specific brain regions to improve symptoms session. What they do is they take a magnetic coil and it's placed against the scalp and magnetic pulses are sent to specific brain regions to improve symptoms. That according to the Cleveland Clinic article, transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Speaker 1: 22:26

Now, potential benefits of these two therapies include improved motor control. Dbs can help improve motor symptoms like rigidity and bradykinesia or slowness of movement, which can indirectly improve balance and enhance brain plasticity. Tms may help promote neuroplasticity and improve the brain's ability to adapt and relearn balance skills. Now, according to the study evidence of neuroplastic changes after transcranial magnetic, electric and deep brain stimulation that was published in the journal Brain Sciences, the authors noted that lasting after effects of TMS have been described as resembling mechanisms of neuroplasticity and as being biologically similar to processes such as long-term potentiation, which means the increase of strength or effectiveness, and depression. Now you may be thinking to yourself what the heck is neuroplasticity, chris? Well, it simply means your brain's ability to build new neural pathways. This happens a lot when learning a new skill or hobby. Your brain builds new neural pathways to help develop quote your muscle memory.

Speaker 1: 23:36

And our final emerging therapy is gene therapy, and gene therapy aims to correct faulty genes that contribute to Parkinson's. Now, while it's still in its early stages, gene therapy does hold some long-term potential for addressing the underlying causes of balance problems. Potential benefits to gene therapy include disease modification. Gene therapy could potentially slow down or even halt progression of Parkinson's, which could help to preserve balance function over time. Now it's important to note that all five of these emerging technologies and therapies are still being researched and investigated. While several hold great promise, they may not be available to everyone just yet.

Speaker 1: 24:16

Now let's turn our attention to the next key topic relating to balance, and that's taking a holistic approach. Now, what do you mean by that, chris? Well, when it comes to improving balance issues, you also need to consider the whole person, the mind, the body and the environment that you live and move around in. So is a holistic approach important? Well, I'm glad you asked. It certainly is.

Speaker 1: 24:42

First, parkinson's is a multifunctional disease, meaning it has both motor and non-motor symptoms. Really, parkinson's affects more than not just our movement. It affects our senses, like our proprioception. It can affect our vision. It can affect our cognitive function, like our attention and dual tasking trying to do two things at one time and even our mental health can cause anxiety and depression. So a holistic approach is going to help us address both motor and non-motor symptoms which are affecting our balance. For example, non-motor and motor symptoms might be interconnected. Anxiety of falling can lead to muscle tension, which further impairs our balance. So you have a non-motor symptom, which is anxiety. The motor symptom is the muscle tension and that's going to affect your balance. So a personalized plan that can be catered to a person's unique needs and specific challenges is going to be beneficial, and we all know that Parkinson's is a progressive disease and it's going to get worse over time, and an individual plan and a holistic plan is going to help you make changes to your treatment plan over time.

Speaker 1: 25:51

Now, looking past the quote, the clinic, where we're not in the doctor's office talking about our treatment plan and we're talking about symptoms, but we're actually out in the real world. We know that balance isn't just about doing some exercises and then taking our meds. There's some other factors that are going to have an effect on our balance Nutrition, sleep. You're not getting enough sleep. I know that's one of the problems that I have. You're going to have some potential balance problems. Stress management if you're anxious and stressed all the time, that's going to give you muscle tension and that's going to have an effect on your balance. And then social interaction also plays a key role. So the more healthy choices we can make not only better our overall well-being, but they're also going to help our balance as well. And finally, think about the environment. Both at home or work or travel, you can do safety checks around the house for loose rugs and other trip hazards to minimize your fall risks.

Speaker 1: 26:51

So what does a holistic plan look like? Well, a good place to start is with a comprehensive assessment by your multidisciplinary team that would include your movement disorder specialist, your physical, occupational and speech therapist, psychologist, nutritionist and maybe even a sleep specialist. They're going to help you identify factors contributing to your balance problems and they can combine medications, therapies and cognitive training and mental health support to help you address your balance issues. Next is your favorite of mine exercise. Yes, I said it, exercise. Now this could include balance training, strength training, flexibility and doing coordination exercises. Some examples might be Tai Chi, yoga, dance. They're all going to help you with your balance.

Speaker 1: 27:43

And then you want to look at your diet and nutrition. Make sure you're eating a healthy diet, full of lots of fruits and vegetables, colors, good quality sources of protein and fats and whole grains. Then how do you manage your stress? Look into techniques like mindfulness, meditation and deep breathing to reduce anxiety. If you're less anxious, you're less tense, and that's going to help you with your balance. Now social engagement is another key piece. Make sure you have plans to stay socially active so that you don't become socially isolated and depressed, because when you sit on the sidelines. You're not getting the muscle strength you need, and that's going to have an effect on your balance. And environmental modifications are another part of the plan. Making changes around the home by removing clutter, installing grab bars and improving lighting can all help you with your balance. And then, finally I don't know if any of you've tried any of these, I've tried most of them Complementary therapies like acupuncture, massage and music therapy to help you relax and reduce your symptoms, which will help with your balance. I've done all three and I can highly recommend all three. So, ideally, taking a holistic approach is going to give you the best outcomes for helping to improve your balance issues.

Speaker 1: 29:03

So let's round out our discussion by painting a picture of what the future of balance management might look like. Imagine a future where challenges of balance and Parkinson's are significantly reduced and not just managed. This would include early detection and personalized prevention. So picture the smart sensors and AI that constantly monitor your movement and your gait. These sensors are working hand-in-hand with AI to analyze your data and give you personalized insights into fall risk before it occurs. This duo doesn't just react to falls, they predict and prevent them.

Speaker 1: 29:39

Then enter the digital twins. Each individual with Parkinson's has a digital twin, which is a virtual model of their unique movement patterns and balance challenges. Your digital is constantly updated with data from wearable sensors and clinical assessments that allow for highly personalized interventions. Then, in this modern world for needing advanced therapies and rehabilitation, there's virtual reality, where you have gamified exercises and realistic simulations that help individuals practice challenging balance tasks in a safe and motivating way. Practice challenging balance tasks in a safe and motivating way. Virtual reality can also be used to simulate real world scenarios like you're navigating crowded streets or you're in a grocery store and have to work around the different aisles and reach up and reach down for things, and that's going to help you improve your balance in your everyday life. Things, and that's going to help you improve your balance in your everyday life. Now, augmented reality overlays with digital information onto the real world can provide visual cues and guidance during movement to help you navigate obstacles. Finally, a future where you could have personalized lifestyle interventions that use AI-powered apps to give you personalized recommendations for nutrition, exercise, sleep and stress management. All right, so what's a day in the future look like? Imagine someone with Parkinson's waking up and checking their personalized balance app. The app suggests a series of balance exercises tailored to their current needs and progress. Later in the day, they use AR glasses to navigate a busy street, with visual cues guiding their steps and helping them maintain their balance. Their digital twin is constantly being updated with data from their wearable sensors that allow their healthcare team to proactively adjust their treatment plan. The result Reduced fall risk and injuries, improved mobile independence, enhance quality of life and increase confidence and participation in your daily activities.

Speaker 1: 31:41

The future of balance management in Parkinson's isn't just a dream. It's a vision that's being actively pursued by researchers, clinicians and technology developers. Now, while challenges remain, there is progress being made and it's significant, offering hope for a future where balance is no longer a major concern for those of us living with Parkinson's. So we've explored today the future of balance management in Parkinson's, and it's not just about preventing falls. It's about empowering people to move with confidence and to participate fully in their communities and live life without constant fear of losing your footing. Now the innovations we've discussed, from the wearable sensors and AI to virtual reality and targeted therapies offer a glimpse into a future where balanced challenges are significantly reduced, offering new possibilities for people living with Parkinson's. But remember innovation doesn't happen in a vacuum. It's going to require collaboration, support and shared commitment to progress across research teams and people willing to participate in clinical studies, and that's where you come in.

Speaker 1: 32:53

If you're inspired by what you've heard today and want to learn more, I encourage you to visit my website, liveparkinsonscom.

Speaker 1: 32:59

There you can find free resources, articles and information on living a great quality of life with Parkinson's, including practical tips for managing balance.

Speaker 1: 33:08

You can also get a free nine balance exercises to improve balance with Parkinson's document and to stay up to date on the latest breakthroughs and insights in Parkinson's care. Be sure to subscribe to the free monthly newsletter as well. We deliver the most relevant and helpful information directly to your inbox, helping you live your best life with Parkinson's. Finally, if you believe in the work we're doing here at Live Parkinson's and want to help support the podcast and website, you can visit my Ko-fi page at ko-ficom. Slash liveparkinsons. Any contributions is going to help me continue to create valuable content and reach more people affected by Parkinson's. Remember we're all in this together. By staying informed, supporting research and advocating for better care, we can create a brighter future for those of us living with Parkinson's. Thank you for joining me on this journey into Beyond Falls. Until next time, keep moving forward, stay healthy, stay strong, stay engaged and live your best life with Parkinson's Thanks again, and I hope to see you all soon.