Prime PD: A New Virtual Fitness Program for Parkinson Disease: Konstantin Karmazin, MD

WATCH TIME: 3 minutes

“Parkinson’s, out of the neurological diseases, has a tremendous body of evidence for exercise-based programs, providing a ton of symptomatic benefit, as well as quality of life and disease-modifying benefits, which for Parkinson’s, in particular, is something that medications unfortunately don’t offer right now.”

Consistent access to high-quality exercise programs, a clinically proven approach to managing symptoms of Parkinson disease (PD), can be a difficult task for this patient population. With the new Prime PD program, however, patients can join a digital wellness studio, accessing programs that are designed to address individual conditions, including on-demand exercise classes and live-streamed group classes.

To learn more about this program, we sat down with Konstantin Karmazin, MD, clinical neurologist and chief medical officer of Prime PD, who explained the motivations behind developing the platform and the benefits it can offer. Particularly during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the program enables patients to access virtual classes from anywhere, Karmazin told NeurologyLive^®, allowing patients to take classes in Rock Steady Boxing, high-intensity interval training, yoga, meditation, among others. Karmazin further spoke to the advantages of a virtual program, as even if patients identify a perfect program at a ‘brick and mortar gym,’ it may not be as easily accessible during later years of the disease course, when mobility issues can arise.