Parkinson’s Disease

When Janet Reno speaks, 1 million Americans don’t listen: We’re too busy watching her hands. If the tremor is bad, we fellow citizens with Parkinson’s disease worry that the stress is getting to her, making her medications less effective. We’re cheering her on: “Go, Janet! Show the world that people with Parkinson’s can handle real work and cope with the daily roller coaster of slow motion versus uncontrollable shakes.” Most of us hide our disability on the true assumption that few people understand what Parkinson’s is. This is despite the fact that the most recognized man in the world, Muhammad Ali, is standing up for us.

After a five-year, quiet, persistent, grass-roots campaign for federal funding, the Udall bill for Parkinson’s research was passed last year. Then Congress played a cruel trick: It didn’t appropriate funding for the bill in the budget!

MARY F. YOST

Coordinator, L.A. Metro

Young Onset Parkinson’s Network