Episode
PARKINSONS - WHAT WE MISSED
- Podcast
- Midlife Mayhem
- Published
- May 17, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3020
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://podcast.joannelee.com/e/parkinsons-what-we-missed/
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Summary
Parkinson’s Disease, Dopamine, Gut Health & The Signs We Missed Why Parkinson’s may begin decades before the tremor — and what families need to understand This week’s podcast is a very personal one for me. We’re talking about Parkinson’s disease — but far beyond the “shaky hand” most people picture when they hear the word. Because Parkinson’s is often much more complex than that. My dad had Parkinson’s, but he didn’t have the classic tremor people associate with it. He became rigid. Stiff. Slower. His posture changed. His voice softened. His body slowly stopped cooperating with the sharp, intelligent mind inside it. And one of the most heartbreaking things for me was realizing years later that many of the signs may have been there decades earlier. Long before the diagnosis… my dad had severe digestive issues. Constipation. Bloating. Distension. Pain. At the time, nobody was talking about gut health, microbiomes or the gut-brain connection. Today, researchers are heavily exploring whether Parkinson’s may actually begin in the gut for some people before progressing toward the brain. In this episode, we discuss: ✔️ Why Parkinson’s is NOT just a movement disorder✔️ Why constipation, bloating and digestive issues may appear years earlier✔️ The connection between dopamine, motivation, depression and apathy✔️ Why some people never develop the classic tremor✔️ The relationship between protein intake and Parkinson’s medications✔️ Why muscle and movement matter so much✔️ The emerging conversations around inflammation, mitochondria and peptides like SS-31✔️ Why families need to understand the emotional and neurological side of the disease — not just the physical symptoms One of the most important takeaways from this episode is understanding that Parkinson’s can affect far mor…