Mary Beth Skylis

1 month ago | gearjunkie.com | Mary Beth Skylis

Astral is best known for its water shoes, but the Nosobo just made a grand entrance into long-distance backpacking with its hearty construction. When Grandma Gatewood became the first female to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail in 1955, she wore a simple pair of Keds sneakers to get the job done. At the time, her strategy to opt for a lightweight shoe was considered outlandish — or even comical.

1 month ago | parkinsonsnewstoday.com | Mary Beth Skylis |Mollie Lombardi |Jamie Askari

I don’t know about you, but I’m still having a hard time believing it’s 2025. I know we’re three months in already, but I still feel like we just unwrapped Christmas presents and embraced our loved ones while surrounded by twinkling lights. As I work to get myself into the 2025 spirit, I’ve been thinking a lot about the “big party,” which is what my sister Anne Marie and her fiancé, Vijeet, are calling their upcoming wedding.

2 months ago | parkinsonsnewstoday.com | Mollie Lombardi |Margarida Maia |Mary Beth Skylis

Note: This column describes the author’s own experiences with deep brain stimulation surgery. Not everyone will have the same response to the procedure. Consult your doctor before considering any particular therapy or treatment. Last in a series. Read parts one, two, and three. In part three of this series, I’d just left the hospital after my second surgery. It was the final surgical step required for the deep brain stimulation (DBS) system I was hoping would alleviate my Parkinson’s symptoms.

2 months ago | parkinsonsnewstoday.com | Margarida Maia |Mary Beth Skylis |Andrea Lobo

Inserting a piece of nerve tissue from a patient’s ankle into the brain during deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery appears a safe and feasible way to support damaged dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson’s disease, with the goal of slowing symptom progression. That’s according to results from a Phase 1 clinical study (NCT02369003) watching for any side effects of that combined approach, called DBS-Plus, over the course of 15 years.

2 months ago | parkinsonsnewstoday.com | Mollie Lombardi |Christine Scheer |Mary Beth Skylis

Note: This column describes the author’s own experiences with deep brain stimulation surgery. Not everyone will have the same response to the procedure. Consult your doctor before considering any particular therapy or treatment. Third in a series. Read parts one and two. In part two of this series, I left off just before I headed back to the hospital for my second deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery. It was late October 2019, and I’d just spent a week recovering from my first surgery at home.