Preparing for extreme weather is a burden for anyone in the path of a storm or fire. People with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and their caregivers should take these tips into consideration to ensure that all PD-related needs are accounted for when preparing for a hurricane or any other natural disaster:

Summer is the time for long drives, late sunsets and the outdoors. However, direct and prolonged exposure to the summer sun can also result in sunburns and over time, skin cancer. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the U.S. and it is even more of a threat for people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) because they have a higher risk of developing malignant melanoma. Skin cancer is preventable. Taking proper precautions and knowing what to look for can save your life. If promptly treated, early-stage melanoma can have a nearly 100 percent cure rate.

Freezing, where one or both legs become literally stuck to the floor, can often result in falls. This makes the treatment of freezing a critical part of managing Parkinson’s disease. One of the most mysterious and scientifically elusive features of Parkinson’s has been the ability to break freezing episodes with what has been referred to as “cueing”. You may have witnessed this phenomenon in the 1990 movie Awakenings, featuring Robin Williams. The movie showed several cueing strategies, including a checkerboard floor.