糖心Vlog传媒

JANESVILLE 鈥� There was a time in Rock County when Parkinson's disease could shrink a person's world.听听

The neurodegenerative brain disease can make people's speaking voices become smaller, quieter. Their handwriting can shrink. Sometimes, people's ambitions in life diminish as the disease 鈥� which has no cure 鈥� slowly erodes their body and mind. Their movement, balance and body functions slowly fail.听

糖心Vlog传媒 fitness studio operator Connie Udell says she's spent 16 years as a personal trainer and care partner. She's tried to prove that people with Parkinson's can actually have a bigger, better world than they might imagine.听

Sept. 30, Udell and other organizers are hosting ","听a special conference at 糖心Vlog传媒's Woodman's Sports & Convention Center. They hope to show hundreds of southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois residents with Parkinson's how much bigger their world can become.

Finding Joy With Parkinson's represents the first major conference for people with Parkinson's disease and their caregivers ever held in Rock County. It's intended as an outreach to show off the range of activities, programs and therapies that have come to the 糖心Vlog传媒 and Stateline areas in the last decade.听听

Some activities that have taken root in the area for Parkinson's families include paddleball, pickleball, dance, voice, rock wall climbing and even cycling.

Udell operates Sol Fitness and Personal Training, a 糖心Vlog传媒 fitness center. For years, she's coached an affiliate of Rock Steady Boxing, a nonprofit program that uses non-contact boxing training aimed at helping people with Parkinson's retain their physical strength, balance and endurance even as the disease progresses.

She said the Finding Joy conference will highlight such programs and activities.听

"All of this stuff was never there in 2010 for Parkinson's," Udell said. "We want people to still believe they are able to have a healthy, happy life with Parkinson's."听

The local conference is coming as Parkinson's disease is on the rise. The number of Americans who get newly diagnosed with Parkinson's each year is now at least 90,000, according to studies cited by the American Parkinson's Disease Association. That newer number is an upgrade over 2022 estimates the association said underestimated new diagnoses of Parkinson's. An earlier estimate showed 60,000 new cases a year.

The same research shows geographic variations in incidences of Parkinson's, with data showing a bigger concentration of the disease in certain regions in the U.S.

The Michael J. Fox and Parkinson's foundations have research showing pronounced hotspots of Parkinson's in the Midwest and Rust Belt areas of the U.S.听鈥� regions that have a history of heavy industrial use.

Among a list of panelists slated to speak at the Finding Joy conference is Fitchburg resident Stephanie Johnson.

Johnson has Parkinson's. So did her husband, Rick, who died from complications of the disease. Johnson is one of six people in her neighborhood with Parkinson's.

Johnson has introduced state legislation in the Assembly听鈥� a bill that seeks to create a Parkinson's disease registry at the UW-Madison School of Medicine. Johnson's hope is that a registry could highlight geographic hotspots of Parkinson's in Wisconsin. That could help researchers study the incidence and prevalence of the incurable disease as scientists try to learn why Parkinson's cases are on the rise.听听听

The Finding Joy conference also showcases local and regional programs and support networks, alongside information on certain physical therapy or medical procedures that can help people suffering physical, mental and emotional effects of Parkinson's.听 听

The conference also highlights different types of support for the disease's silent sufferers听鈥� family and caregivers of people with Parkinson's.

"If you have a caregiver with Parkinson's, you also have Parkinson's. You're fighting that whole disease with them," Udell said.听

Finding Joy With Parkinson's runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 30 at the Woodman's Sports & Convention Center. Registration for the event is available on on 听