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9. When should we start on drugs?
32:53||Season 8, Ep. 9When is the right time to start taking Parkinson's drugs? Having put the question to the Movers & Shakers Facebook group, we had a range of responses from those who didn't take Levodopa (the widely prescribed and most effective medication for treating Parkinson's symptoms) at all, to those who swore by starting early. In this episode, we hear from some of those people, and receive myth-busting, expert advice from our guests, Stephanie Bancroft, a senior pharmacist and the chair of the PUK specialist pharmacy network, and Dr Lucia Batzu, a consultant specialising in Parkinson's and Dementia. Movers & Shakers is brought to you in partnership with Cure Parkinson's.Presented by Rory Cellan-Jones, Gillian Lacey-Solymar, Mark Mardell, Paul Mayhew-Archer, Sir Nicholas Mostyn and Jeremy Paxman.Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.Associate Producer: Lulu GoadMusic by Alex Stobbs
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8. My Parent has Parkinson's - what should I know?
32:08||Season 8, Ep. 8We spend most of out time talking about how Parkinson’s impacts us Parkies, but we don’t often speak about the experience of those family members, particularly the children, who live with it too. One of our guests for this week reached out to us with his reflections on caring for his dad, so we asked a couple of our very own Parkinson’s kids to come along to the pub too to tell us what it's like living with a PD parent.Movers & Shakers is brought to you in partnership with Cure Parkinson's.Presented by Rory Cellan-Jones, Gillian Lacey-Solymar, Mark Mardell, Paul Mayhew-Archer, Sir Nicholas Mostyn and Jeremy Paxman.Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.Associate Producer: Lulu GoadMusic by Alex Stobbs
7. Pain
26:22||Season 8, Ep. 7Does Parkinson's cause pain? Can a non-Parkinson's pain be aggravated by the disease? Or is just our old age? Dr Susan Duty, Professor in Pharmacology and Neuroscience at King's College London, joins us this week to explain why it is we're all enduring so much discomfort. Movers & Shakers is brought to you in partnership with Cure Parkinson's.Presented by Rory Cellan-Jones, Gillian Lacey-Solymar, Mark Mardell, Paul Mayhew-Archer, Sir Nicholas Mostyn and Jeremy Paxman.Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.Associate Producer: Lulu GoadMusic by Alex Stobbs
6. Brain Bank
28:24||Season 8, Ep. 6We can't quite believe it either but this week's episode was recorded at the UCL Brain Bank headed by Consultant Neurologist Tom Warner (also notably, Gillian's neurologist!). Thanks to expert guidance from Consultant Neuropathologist Zane Jaunmuktane and Clinical Research Fellow Patrick Cullinane we now know a considerable amount more about how banks like this one can use brains and other donations to conduct crucial research into Parkinson's Disease. What does the donation process look like? Friend and Parkinson's advocate, Jo Goodburn also joined us at the Queen Square site and shared with us her experience with the Imperial College London Brain Bank. We're organising our donation papers as we speak.Movers & Shakers is brought to you in partnership with Cure Parkinson's.Presented by Rory Cellan-Jones, Gillian Lacey-Solymar, Mark Mardell, Paul Mayhew-Archer, Sir Nicholas Mostyn and Jeremy Paxman.Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.Associate Producer: Lulu Goad & Ewan CameronMusic by Alex Stobbs
5. Walking Football
24:07||Season 8, Ep. 5The Movers & Shakers are back in the pub to talk walking football. We're big fans of activities that help slow down the progression of Parkinson's Disease, particularly walking football; it may even rival ping pong (but not according to Gillian!). We didn't have a kick about in situ but we had some experts in to tell us all about it - and Rory went to his local club to give us a taste of the real thing. With us are the facilitators of the Parkinson’s Pioneers Women’s Walking Football Community, Annie Booth and Gemma Darvill, as well as member of the Whittington Health NHS Trust-Arsenal walking football programme, Jeremy Munday. If our guests don't inspire you to get moving, we don't know what will!Movers & Shakers is brought to you in partnership with Cure Parkinson's.Presented by Rory Cellan-Jones, Gillian Lacey-Solymar, Mark Mardell, Paul Mayhew-Archer, Sir Nicholas Mostyn and Jeremy Paxman.Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.Associate Producer: Lulu Goad & Ewan CameronMusic by Alex Stobbs
4. Risky Drugs
39:42||Season 8, Ep. 4The BBC Radio 4 investigative programme 'Impulsive' shocked listeners across the world. Aired at the beginning of the year, 'Impulsive' revealed the devastating effects that the readily prescribed Parkinson's drugs, dopamine agonists, were having on their users, including causing hypersexuality and compulsive gambling, among other extremes. We've actually covered this topic before on Movers & Shakers, but the Radio 4 show brought the discussion back to light, so this week we're readdressing the risks associated with these drugs and what is being done to tackle them. The presenter of 'Impulsive', BBC Investigations correspondent Noel Titheradge, joined us, alongside one of the show's interviewees, and the co-founder of the Dopamine Agonist Action Group, Freddie Waite, to explain their journey to uncovering this 'shadow world'.Find out more about the Dopamine Agonist Action Group at www.impulsive.worldMovers & Shakers is brought to you in partnership with Cure Parkinson's.Presented by Rory Cellan-Jones, Gillian Lacey-Solymar, Mark Mardell, Paul Mayhew-Archer, Sir Nicholas Mostyn and Jeremy Paxman.Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.Associate Producer: Lulu Goad & Ewan CameronMusic by Alex Stobbs
3. World Parkinson's Congress in Phoenix, Arizona
37:18||Season 8, Ep. 3Live from Phoenix, Arizona, for the World Parkinson's Congress 2026; it doesn't get much better than that if you ask us. We all took turns speaking to Parkinson's experts, whether that be on dancing, singing, or even finding a cure. There's almost no one we didn't try to speak to.. We even got to hear a fantastic comedy set from Paul, of which you will get a taste. Tune in to find out what we got up to and please do join us next time in Quebec!Movers & Shakers is brought to you in partnership with Cure Parkinson's.Presented by Rory Cellan-Jones, Gillian Lacey-Solymar, Mark Mardell, Paul Mayhew-Archer, Sir Nicholas Mostyn and Jeremy Paxman.Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.Associate Producer: Lulu GoadMusic by Alex Stobbs