Parkinson’s Awareness Month 2022: Manitobans invited to sit-stand in support

Parkinson's Awareness Month prompts discussion about the neurodegenerative disease, and April 11 – World Parkinson's Day – brings an interactive challenge for people to do at home.

April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month, prompting discussion on the neurodegenerative disease.

According to Tim Hague Sr., the founder of U-Turn Parkinson’s wellness centre in Winnipeg, Parkinson’s is tied to a lack of dopamine production in the brain.

“(Dopamine) deals with our emotions in a large way, but it also deals with our movement, our ability to control our bodies, and over time, our our bodies stop producing dopamine,” he says. That results in our inability to control our body and in all of our muscle function.”

Hague, who’s diagnosed with Young Onset Parkinson’s Disease, says he chose to open up about his experience because it’s part of his profession.

“I was a nurse for 21 years, and so that that’s an important part for nurses to educate the public,” he says. “But you also remember that my older son and I got the opportunity to run The Amazing Race Canada and that kind of thing gave me a chance to kind of put us out there.”

Jordana Hague, manager of events and fund development for U-Turn and Tim Sr.’s daughter, says they’re part of something big for April 11th, on World Parkinson’s Day.

“We’re asking folks to take 60 seconds out of their day to do as many sit-to-stands as they can in that time,” she says. “Go onto our website, log your total so that we can together, hopefully, reach 100,000 sit-to-stands to represent the 100,000-plus collective Canadians living with the disease today.”

Those interested in participating in the sit-to-stand campaign can head to uturnparkinsons.org.