Center for Parkinson’s Disease helps fight the effects of condition

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- People affected by Parkinson's disease have a free resource to help combat symptoms and to help build a community of support.

The Center for Parkinson's Disease, operated by Freudenthal Home-Based Healthcare, uses multiple exercises and therapies to build strength and flexibility for patients. The vision for the center came about when a husband-and-wife training team, local farmers Garrett and Tara Patterson, sold their boxing gym and wanted a place to use their equipment to help those with Parkinson's.

"Stephanie Steward ... at Missouri Western, and my wife, Tara Patterson, got together with Joe Freudenthal at a meeting and expressed a desire to start this Parkinson's center," Garrett Patterson said. "Freudenthal Home Healthcare provided an available space at East Hills Mall and took care of insurance, and we provided the initial equipment and the training."

In addition to a boxing gym filled with heavy bags and other equipment, the center also has stationary bikes. Each week, it also provides a support group for both patients and family members dealing with Parkinson's.

According to the National Parkinson's Foundation, nearly 90,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with the disease each year. Parkinson's affects the brain's ability to communicate with the muscle, and over time, loss of mobility, loss of speech and even death can occur from the effects. Although there is no cure, the foundation says that symptoms can be managed through a variety of treatments in addition to medication, including exercise. That's where the Center for Parkinson's Disease in St. Joseph comes in.

"Studies have proven that exercises like boxing, which emphasizes long, fast and hard movements in addition to balance, can provide some of the dopamine lacking in the brain that communicates with the muscles," Garrett Patterson said. "So the workouts we do help give some of that back to the body and, along with medication, can really improve mobility and balance in the long run."

The center, located inside East Hills Shopping Center at 3702 Frederick Ave., has classes that include B.A.M., or, "Big Amplitude Movement," which allows participants to help recalibrate their movements and strengthen muscles to assist with mobility, in addition to the boxing and cycling classes. For co-founder Tara Patterson, the decision to take on this project was one that flowed from faith and a desire to use training and gifts to provide for those in need.

"I believe that if you can give back, you should," Tara Patterson said. "We are called to love people, and we're called to be hands and feet for those in need. So, I feel like here we do our best to love these people well."

Kathy Emler, who is a Parkinson's patient, agrees.

"At first the diagnosis is kind of a shock," Emler said. "But here we get together, we care about what's happening with each other. I mean, there's a level concern that is huge, and we're all going through the same thing."

Tara Patterson said that for her, even hearing of small victories like a participant's ability to carry groceries by herself for the first time in years or a man who said his breathing and sleeping have improved because of the class, makes it all worthwhile.

For more information on the exercise program, visit freudenthalhh.com/fcpd. For general information on Parkinson's disease, go to parkinson.org.