April is Parkinson's Awareness Month

The Mruk Family Education Center on Aging encourages and empowers those living with Parkinson's Disease to fight back during Parkinson's Awareness Month.

This April, the Mruk Family Education Center on Aging, one of the community health education and support houses of Baxter Regional Medical Center, will observe Parkinson's Awareness Month. Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a progressive disorder of the nervous system that affects the ability to walk, talk, balance and move.

The Mruk Family Education Center on Aging will host Dr. Alan Diamond, a neurologist specializing in movement disorders at Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas, for An Overview of Parkinson's Disease, an in-depth discussion about PD and its symptoms, treatments, and how those living with it can best manage. The event will be held Tuesday, April 18 at 10 a.m. in the BRMC Lagerborg Dining Room. To register to attend, call the MFECOA at (870) 508-3880, email mfecoa@baxterregional.org, or click here to register online.

More than 10 million people live with PD worldwide, and more than 60,000 Americans are diagnosed each year. Parkinson's Awareness Month is a great opportunity for the MFECOA to encourage local PD patients to join those who are fighting back through Rock Steady Boxing Mountain Home, a non-contact boxing exercise offered through the Mruk Family Education Center on Aging. Rock Steady Boxing (RSB) is a program for patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD), and it has the potential to build power, strength, flexibility, and balance where it was once been lost because of this degenerative disease.

"Rock Steady Boxing Mountain Home offers classes that inspire and provide hope and better quality of life for those who are fighting back against Parkinson's disease," said Diahanne VanGulick, Coordinator of MFECOA and Rock Steady Boxing Mountain Home.

To learn more about Rock Steady Boxing Mountain Home, please contact Diahanne at (870) 508-3881 or email evangulick@baxterregional.org. For additional resources and to learn more about the international organization, please visit Rock Steady Boxing, Inc. at www.RockSteadyBoxing.org.