Company News

2019 Parkinson’s Unity Walk

April 18, 2019

The Allure Group welcomes sign-ups for the Parkinson’s Unity Walk, which will be held on Saturday, April 27 in Central Park.

The Parkinson’s Unity Walk, a gentle 1.4-mile stroll through the park that will be held rain or shine, features a rolling start at the 72nd Street Bandshell between 8:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Registration is ongoing between those two times as well.

All the proceeds from the event, whether from entries or donations, are distributed among the major U.S foundations researching Parkinson’s Disease, a progressive nervous system disorder that hinders movement. Some 60,000 Americans are diagnosed with the disease each year, and nearly 1 million will be afflicted by 2020. There is no known cure.

Among the organizations benefiting from the Unity Walk are the American Parkinson Disease Association, the Parkinson’s Foundation, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research and The Parkinson Alliance.

Last year Dr. Beom-Chan and his research team at the American Parkinson Disease Association used a grant from the 2017 Unity Walk to develop the Smarter Balance System (SBS), a smartphone-based balance training system. That same organization also used the proceeds to do important research.

The National Parkinson Foundation, meanwhile, used its 2017 allotment to study the way in which motor function is affected by the aging process, while the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation examined how the cerebellum was impacted by the disease. The Michael J. Fox Foundation investigated the degree to which balance and gait speed of Parkinson’s patients might be aided by a drug known as Varenicline.

The exact cause of Parkinson’s disease is unknown, though researchers have pointed toward genetic and (to a lesser degree) environmental factors. It is most common among men 60 and older, and its onset is a result of nerve cells (neurons) in the brain breaking down or dying. The early symptoms of Parkinson’s might include tremors (especially in a finger, hand or chin), small handwriting, a loss of smell, insomnia, stiffness in the body, arms or legs, constipation, a soft or low voice, an expressionless (i.e., “masked”) face, dizziness/fainting or hunched-over posture.

As the disease progresses, other symptoms can include depression, constipation, incontinence, cognitive difficulties, sexual dysfunction and problems with smelling, swallowing and chewing.

Certain medications have been known to arrest the symptoms and enable patients to walk and move without hindrance.

Categories: Events