Parkinson's Disease-Home Treatment Early on, Parkinson's disease may not greatly disrupt your life. But for most people, the disease becomes more disabling over time. Home treatment can help you adjust as time goes on and help you stay independent for as long as possible.

Your home and lifestyle

• Modify your activities and your home. For example, simplify your daily activities, and change the location of furniture so that you can hold on to something as you move around the house.
• Eat healthy foods, including plenty of fruits, vegetables, grains, cereals, legumes, poultry, fish, lean meats, and low-fat dairy products.
• Exercise and do physical therapy. They have benefits in both early and advanced stages of the disease.

Motor problems

• Deal with tremor. This may include putting a little weight on your hand to help reduce tremor and restore control.
• Improve speech quality by working with a speech therapist (also called a speech-language pathologist).
• Reduce problems with eating and drooling by changing how and what you eat.
• Deal with "freezing" by various means, such as stepping toward a specific target on the ground.
• Deal with sexual function problems. Talk to your doctor about your specific issues. He or she may be able to suggest a change in your treatment, such as a change in your medicine or exercise.

Mood and mental problems

• Deal with depression. If you are feeling sad or depressed, ask a friend or family member for help. If these feelings don't go away, or if they get worse, talk to your doctor. He or she may be able to suggest someone for you to talk to. Or your doctor may give you medicine that will help.
• Deal with dementia. Dementia is common late in Parkinson's disease. Symptoms may include confusion and memory loss. If you (or a family member) notice that you are confused a lot or have trouble thinking clearly, talk to your doctor. There are medicines that can help dementia in people with Parkinson's disease.

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