SALISBURY — April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month and to assist in spreading the word on unique ways to look after the disease, Parkinson’s Advocacy of Rowan County invited Dr. Andrew Jeter of Jeter Chiropractic Clinic to speak at its monthly meeting hosted by Rufty-Holmes Senior Center on April 2. 

“Part of our goal with these meetings is to supply you with the information you may need to live the best life you can live,” said Mary Ann Karriker, an advocate and facilitator for Parkinson’s Advocacy of Rowan County. 

Though Jeter said he does not specifically treat Parkinson’s, he does treat people who have it. Everyone who attended the meeting was someone with Parkinson’s or is a caregiver of a person who does. 

“I’m not here to educate you on Parkinson’s, I’m here to try and educate you on a little bit of how to deal with it, how to live with it,” Jeter said. 

Every year, 90,000 people are diagnosed with Parkinson’s in the United States according to the Parkinson’s Foundation’s website. It is a disorder that causes uncontrollable joint movement, stiffness and a loss of balance and coordination. 

Jeter discussed how visiting a chiropractor and staying active can make living with Parkinson’s a little easier. Jeter liked to compare spinal degeneration to tooth decay and that a large portion of the population is more preoccupied with one over the other. 

“You can live without your teeth, you cannot live without your spine. Your spine controls every function in your body. There’s nothing that happens in your body that your spine doesn’t understand or know about through the nervous system,” Jeter said. 

Jeter implored those in attendance to watch what they eat, drink plenty of water, have a positive mental attitude and stay as active as possible. 

“You got to continue the fight. Parkinson’s is not a slow road, it’s not Stage V cancer, this is something that’s going to be slow and it’s going to be drawn out. The worst thing you can do is to quit and get in a rocking chair,” Jeter said. 

Bill Garraty was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2021 and he tries to come to the advocacy meetings as much as he can since he moved to Salisbury two and a half years ago. Garraty said he enjoys the camaraderie and openness the meetings regularly offer him.

“The patients are able to discuss different things that hit them and the caregivers sometimes have additional problems or different problems they’re trying to deal with,” Garraty said. 

Garraty has utilized chiropractic care in the past and he exercises at the YMCA multiple times a week. Even though he’s glad these meetings allow him access to valuable knowledge and resources, Garraty wishes there were doctors actually in Salisbury who could help him with his disease. 

“I’m really in a good place and I think the only thing that I could say, and I think everybody would agree with me, is I’d like to see a good Parkinson’s doctor in Salisbury. I go to Charlotte and it’s a long drive and traffic and you name it. If driving becomes more difficult, it becomes a bigger problem,” Garraty said.