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Nearly 1 million Americans live with Parkinson's. It's a progressive disease that causes issues like tremors, balance problems, speech changes and stiff muscles. People who live in rural agricultural states can find it difficult to access services that can help, but there are efforts to make that easier. Bek Shackelford-Nwanganga of Kansas News Service reports.
BEK SHACKELFORD-NWANGANGA, BYLINE: There's no cure, but exercise and physical therapy can help people with Parkinson's disease improve their brain health, sleep and motor skills. So on a Friday afternoon, classes at the Parkinson's Exercise and Wellness Center in Leawood are in full swing, literally.
UNIDENTIFIED INSTRUCTOR #1: All right. Let's work with our partners. Put force behind those punches.
SHACKELFORD-NWANGANGA: Sarrisa Curry is head coach and co-founder of the center, which is dedicated to caring for people with Parkinson's disease. She teaches boxing and other fitness classes. Curry says her work started a decade ago. That's when she taught a small class of about four people at a boxing gym.
SARRISA CURRY: This wasn't just helping them to be stronger. It was actually helping their brain to function better. And they were self-reporting that they were moving better, their tremors were less.
SHACKELFORD-NWANGANGA: As the need for fitness classes and other Parkinson's-specific therapies grew, Curry started a nonprofit and opened her own gym.
CURRY: I think that's really important because this community is very special. They don't necessarily need to fit in anywhere else. They need to have a space that's for them, and I think we've provided that.
SHACKELFORD-NWANGANGA: Today, the gym services around 280 people and offers classes ranging from Pilates and boxing to theater. Curry says as the baby boomer generation ages, they're seeing more need, since the average onset for Parkinson's is around age 70. Enrollment went up by 25% last year.
CURRY: And I anticipate that we'll see that this year, if not more, because more people are being diagnosed. More people are reaching the age at which they start to show that disease process.
SHACKELFORD-NWANGANGA: Recent data shows Kansas has some of the highest rates of Parkinson's diagnosis in the country. That's according to Epic Research, a health records company, which analyzed millions of medical records to find diagnosis rates. It found that only Nebraska had a higher rate.
There's no single definitive cause for Parkinson's disease. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, in some cases, it can be linked to genetics, but research also suggests that exposure to pesticides puts people at higher risk. Elaine Ptacek is the founder of Parkinson's Families of Northwest Kansas, a nonprofit that offers things like physical therapy and art classes. She says about 90% of her group's participants live on farms and are exposed to pesticides.
ELAINE PTACEK: We just have so many farm-related jobs - agriculture and everything else - that it's kind of hard to escape that.
SHACKELFORD-NWANGANGA: Ptacek's organization serves a rural area she says desperately needs Parkinson's support. But because there aren't enough services to cover the broad region, groups in eight counties join Zoom calls and follow along with a fitness instructor.
UNIDENTIFIED INSTRUCTOR #2: And here we go. Toe up towards your head. There's a tiny bend in your back knee.
SHACKELFORD-NWANGANGA: Ptacek says she founded the organization because when she was diagnosed with the disease back in 2015, the closest workout and support group was about four hours away.
PTACEK: Well, having Parkinson's, you need a support group because you have good days and bad days.
SHACKELFORD-NWANGANGA: Certain medications and deep brain stimulation can help control symptoms of Parkinson's disease. But until there's a cure, classes like these are bringing people together and helping them function better.
For NPR News, I'm Bek Shackelford-Nwanganga in Kansas City.
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