The Parkinsons Pulse

12/10/2026

Does Parkinson’s run in families? 🧠

Having a parent, sibling or other relative with Parkinson’s may increase your risk, but it doesn’t mean you will develop the condition.

🧬 Genetics is one piece of the puzzle. Ageing, environmental exposures and other biological processes may also play a role in how Parkinson’s develops.

Understanding your family history can help you ask informed questions, explore whether genetic counselling may be appropriate, and better understand the factors associated with Parkinson’s.

At The Parkinson’s Pulse, we look beyond a single cause to explore the bigger picture of Parkinson’s and the complex interactions that may influence brain health.

Your genes are part of your story — not the whole story.

Save this post for a clearer understanding of Parkinson’s and share it with someone who may find it helpful.

09/10/2026

Want to reduce your exposure to Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs)? Start with how you cook.

AGEs are compounds that can form naturally within the body, but they can also be introduced through the foods we eat—particularly foods exposed to high temperatures and dry cooking methods.

The good news is that small, practical changes can help.

Choose moist, lower-temperature cooking methods such as steaming, poaching, braising and slow cooking.

Use acidic marinades such as lemon juice or vinegar to help reduce AGE formation during cooking.

Limit frequent charring, frying and very high-temperature cooking.

Prioritise whole, minimally processed foods and a diverse range of colourful plant foods.

Include polyphenol-rich foods, herbs and spices that provide compounds involved in antioxidant defence and cellular resilience.

And remember: dietary AGEs are only one part of the picture. Supporting healthy blood glucose and metabolic health also matters because the body can produce AGEs internally.

There’s no need to completely avoid your favourite foods. Instead, focus on how you prepare them, how often you eat them, and the overall quality and diversity of your diet.

For a deeper look at AGEs, cooking methods, polyphenols and their relevance to cellular and neurological health, read the full article at The Parkinson’s Pulse.

05/10/2026

What if your HbA1c looks normal… but your blood sugar is riding a rollercoaster throughout the day? 📈📉

HbA1c is useful, but it’s an average. It doesn’t necessarily show us the spikes after meals, rapid drops, overnight lows or day-to-day variability happening in between blood tests.

That’s where a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) can be really interesting.

For people with Parkinson’s, this matters because the brain — and particularly dopamine-producing neurons — has significant energy demands. Researchers are increasingly interested in the relationship between glucose regulation, insulin resistance, mitochondrial function, oxidative stress and neurodegeneration.

And importantly, glucose instability isn’t only something we see in people with diabetes.

A CGM gives us an opportunity to see what happens in real life:

🥣 What happens after breakfast?
😴 What happens after a poor night’s sleep?
🏃 What does exercise do?
🚶 Does a walk after dinner change the curve?
🥚 What happens when we increase protein and reduce simple carbohydrates?

We’re not looking for a perfectly flat glucose line.

We’re looking for patterns — and, importantly, patterns we may be able to change.

Your HbA1c tells us the average.

A CGM lets us see the journey.

I’ve taken a deeper look at CGMs, glucose variability and why this emerging area may be relevant to brain health and Parkinson’s in my latest article.

🔗 Read the full article via The Parkinson’s Pulse.

24/09/2026

What does blood sugar have to do with Parkinson’s disease? More than you might think.

When blood glucose remains elevated, it can attach to proteins and fats through a process called glycation, leading to the formation of Advanced Glycation End Products — or AGEs.

One way to picture this is to think of glycation as making our proteins a little “sticky.” Their structure and function can become altered, and over time these damaged proteins can contribute to cellular stress.

And in the brain, this becomes particularly interesting.

AGEs and a highly reactive glucose byproduct called methylglyoxal (MGO) have been linked with oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, inflammation and changes in protein aggregation — including processes involving alpha-synuclein.

For people living with Parkinson’s, this is one of the reasons I think metabolic health deserves a seat at the table when we talk about neurological health.

And it isn’t always just about elevated blood glucose. We’re also beginning to understand the potential importance of glucose variability — the repeated highs and lows in blood sugar throughout the day.

In my latest article, I unpack:

Glucose → Glycation → AGEs & MGO → Cellular Stress

…and explore what this may mean for the brain, dopamine neurons and peripheral nerves.

It’s a fascinating piece of the metabolic health and neurodegeneration puzzle.

Read the full article:

When Blood Sugar Spikes, Your Brain Pays the Price: AGEs, MGO and Neurodegeneration

14/09/2026

Blood sugar matters in Parkinson’s.

Research suggests that people living with both Parkinson’s disease and type 2 diabetes may experience faster motor progression. In one large study, type 2 diabetes was associated with a **55% greater risk of developing substantial gait impairment and around a 70% greater risk of developing mild cognitive impairment.

The good news? Metabolic health is something we can pay attention to.
Choosing higher-fibre, minimally processed carbohydrates, pairing carbohydrates with protein, healthy fats and fibre, and moving regularly can all help support healthier glucose regulation.

This isn’t about fearing carbohydrates — it’s about understanding how different carbohydrates affect our blood glucose and making better choices more often.

Read the full article at The Parkinson’s Pulse.

08/09/2026

Parkinson’s, diabetes, and metabolic flexibility.
In a large study of people living with Parkinson’s, those who also had type 2 diabetes experienced faster disease progression, with a greater risk of substantial gait impairment and mild cognitive impairment.

The authors highlighted something particularly important:

Type 2 diabetes is a potentially modifiable metabolic state.

But I think the conversation needs to start even earlier.

Type 2 diabetes doesn’t suddenly appear overnight. Changes in insulin sensitivity, glucose regulation and metabolic health can develop for years before a diagnosis is made.

So why wait until diabetes develops before we start paying attention?

This is exactly what I have been harping on about - Action rather than Reaction.

It means paying attention to metabolic health early; assessing glucose regulation and insulin signalling, supporting healthy body composition, building and maintaining muscle, moving regularly, improving nutrition and supporting metabolic flexibility.

We want to avoid managing diabetes and, where possible, completely sidestep it.

We want to prevent it in the first place.

We cannot say from this study that preventing diabetes will slow Parkinson’s progression. But when type 2 diabetes is associated with poorer outcomes in Parkinson’s, maintaining good metabolic health seems an incredibly important part of caring for the person living with the disease.

Parkinson’s is the diagnosis.
Metabolic health is crucial.

Athauda D, et al. The Impact of Type 2 Diabetes in Parkinson’s Disease. Movement Disorders. 2022. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35699244/

07/09/2026

Healthcare often becomes most active once something has already gone wrong.

A symptom appears.
A diagnosis is made.
A marker moves outside the reference range.
And then we act.

But what if we became better at looking earlier?

Proactive healthcare is about understanding risk, measuring what matters, identifying areas of health that can be worked on, and tracking those areas over time.

That might mean looking at metabolic and nutritional health, movement, sleep, environmental exposures, resilience and other modifiable factors — long before they become the loudest problem in the room.

We can't control every aspect of our future health, and prevention is never a guarantee.

But there is a big difference between fearing disease and actively building health.

Less reactive. More proactive.

04/09/2026

The global burden of Parkinson’s disease is rising; rapidly.

A 2025 study published in The BMJ, using data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021, projected that the number of people living with Parkinson’s worldwide could increase from approximately 11.9 million in 2021 to 25.2 million by 2050.

That’s a projected increase of 112% in less than 30 years.

Population ageing was identified as the largest driver of this increase. But importantly, the researchers also projected an increase in age-standardised prevalence, suggesting the changing burden of Parkinson’s cannot be viewed through population ageing alone.

For me, statistics like these reinforce why Parkinson’s deserves far greater attention, not only in treatment, but in research, earlier recognition, multidisciplinary care and our understanding of the risk factors. Most people have some connection to Parkinson’s and as time goes on, sadly that connection is projected to move closer to all of us.

More people living with Parkinson’s also means more families, carers and communities needing access to good information and long-term support.

25 million people by 2050 is a challenge we need to be preparing for now.

The Parkinson’s Pulse

Reference: Su D, Cui Y, He C, et al. Projections for prevalence of Parkinson’s disease and its driving factors in 195 countries and territories to 2050: modelling study of Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. BMJ. 2025;388:e080952.

01/09/2026

🌿 A free guide to living well with Parkinson’s.

Parkinson’s can come with an overwhelming amount of information — and it can be difficult to know where to begin.

So I created this 31-page foundational guide as a simple, accessible starting point.

Inside, we explore 7 foundations for living well with Parkinson’s — including movement, nutrition, sleep, nervous system regulation, environmental health, purpose and community.

It’s intentionally practical and easy to read, but throughout the guide you’ll also find links to deeper, fully referenced resources if you’d like to explore the science behind each area.

This short ebook is about understanding the areas of health we can work on, and giving people with Parkinson’s practical tools to support their health and quality of life.

Download Your Guide to Living Well With Parkinson’s via the link in bio.

Or simply comment “FREE BOOK” below, and we’ll personally send you the ebook.

— Davey
The Parkinson’s Pulse

Our clinic provides personalised naturopathic therapy for those exploring alternative Parkinson's treatments, supporting your health and quality of life.

20/08/2026

I’ve been following BeechBand for quite a while, curious about this simple wearable and the experiences being shared by people living with Parkinson’s.

At the World Parkinson Congress, I finally had the chance to meet the BeechBand team, see the device in person, ask plenty of questions and watch people with Parkinson’s trying it for themselves.

One of the things that originally caught my attention was the number of positive experiences and reviews being shared on their website. Of course, everyone’s experience will be different, but I think it’s an interesting option worth exploring.

If you’re curious, have a look through their website, read some of the stories from people using it and learn a little more about how it works.

The Parkinson’s Pulse community can also save 20% with code:
FRIEND-QXNN2J6

Interested in learning more? Explore BeechBand through the link in our bio.