Region's 1st Parkinson centre comes up in Aurangabad

AURANGABAD: In a joint initiative by the Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Society (PDMDS), Mumbai, and Sneh Sawli Care Centre Aurangabad, which is a charitable trust, the first Parkinson support centre in Marathwada has been set up in the city. Weekly sessions start from July 17 for patients.

As part of this initiative, patients suffering from Parkinson's Disease will get to be a part of the weekly session on Wednesdays from 10 to 11am at the Sneh Sawli Care Centre, opposite SFS on Jalna Road.

There will be no charges to avail of the benefits from the support centre.

According to Balaji Asegaonkar, president of the Sneh Sawli Care Centre, the Parkinson's centre will facilitate supportive therapies like physiotherapy, speech therapy, psychological therapy, counselling and yoga. "The key objective of this initiative is to help patients and relatives to learn to accept that they have to live with the disease. Another aim of this programme is to raise awareness among people about Parkinson's disease. Early detection is significant to the treatment of Parkinson's disease. One should report symptoms at the earliest to clinicians," said Asegaonkar. The centre will be providing free counselling and guidance to the caretakers and family on how best to take care of the patient.

PDMDS was established by neurologist BS Singhal in 2001 in Mumbai. PDMDS and Sneh Sawli have joined hands to introduce this Parkinson's support centre to the region.

The centre will include psychology and cognition, diet and nutrition and alternate therapies such as music, dance and arts. Formal discussions, lectures and demonstrations will also be a part of the programme.

With one session in each week, there will be 13 sessions, which the experts will conduct for an hour each. Subsequently, information cards based on the sessions will be given to the attendees. The patients can go home and go through it. They can then clarify their doubts from the experts present.