Dr. Sutherland answered questions about Parkinson's Disease in the February 2016 issue of SRQ Magazine, written by Phil Lederer. To read the complete article, entitled "Parkinson's Unpacked -- a look inside the twin treatments fighting Parkinson's today," click here.

Here's an excerpt:

How can you define success with a progressive and degenerative disease like this? Sutherland: There are a number of ways you could look at it. One is if somebody has regained skills or confidence in things that they had given up on before. For instance, a lot of people in the Sarasota area like to golf and we’ll have people who give up golf. After they’ve been treated properly with medications and therapy, a lot of people can go back to doing that. There are a lot of things that people will throw up as roadblocks to their own functionality. We can help reduce those roadblocks or even eliminate them and get them back to feeling like they are able to live a more normal life. Rogers-Brunner: I would have to agree with that. It’s very personal for everybody. You know what’s important to them, and if you can help them achieve whatever it is that’s important to them, then that’s success. 

What resources are available in this area, and what would you like to see brought in? Rogers-Brunner: Sarasota is the epicenter for Parkinson’s support and everything that we do here is just amazing to me. Sutherland: It’s exploded in the last 15 to 20 years here in Sarasota. Right now, we have a number of support organizations that are available. I work for Neuro Challenge Foundation. There’s also Parkinson’s Place across town, and there’s some smaller organizations, but those are really the two main places in town where we have some sort of social support mixed with some more of the educational information. That’s really a very solid start. If you look all over the nation, we probably have the most developed Parkinson’s system in terms of a county or a region anywhere in the nation.

There are many things to consider when choosing the physician that's right for you. You might want to be part of a research trial. Perhaps you're looking for someone who is an expert in programming your DBS (Deep Brain Stimulator.)  Maybe you need a second opinion or you've yet to be diagnosed. It's important to know that your doctor is well versed in "everything Parkinson." Generally those physicians who devote all or a large portion of their practices to Parkinson treatment know all the intricacies of the disease. What's more, they maintain relationships, with other specialists and community resources that you may benefit from as well. 

Here's a link to a list of the Florida doctors with the highest Parkinson patient volumes that many of you have asked for.

Doreen T. Sutherland, MBA

Dean P. Sutherland, MD, PhD, Founder of the Southeastern Center for Parkinson Disease and Medical Director for Neuro Challenge Foundation for Parkinson's in Sarasota, Florida presented a session for 1,600 Parkinson patients and their caregivers live and via webcast today at the Michael J Fox Partners in Parkinson Conference in Tampa on the topic of "What to Expect At  An Appointment With A Parkinson Specialist." Nearly two additional hours were devoted to answering questions from patients from around the area. Robert Hauser, MD, MBA, Professor of Neurology and Director of the USF Health Burd Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center of Excellence and Christopher Hess, MD, Assistant Professor of Neurology at the UF Center for Movement Disorders and Neurorestoration presented the latest in Parkinson research.