h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Why am I a bit wobbly? Glad you asked. I was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease six months ago. Anybody else on this big adventure?

Best wishes to you CL.

Parkinsons is one of those diseases that I have never encountered in my family or circle of friends.

I hope it's progress is slow.

PP.

I had a very good friend with moderately advanced Parkinsons who had the best lover ever. He was all she could ask for. It was hard but life was still fabulous.

They are still doing brilliantly, but I have moved away.

I really hope you never get it that tough, but also that the people around you are as wonderful as those around her.

Thank you both, progress is slow, Stage One now and probably years before I get to Stage Five. L-Dopa is brilliant and yes, it does have the side effect of increased libido.

BTW, if you want a fairly good explanation of Stage one, try the film 'Love and Other Drugs'

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758752/

"Love and Other Drugs" includes a scene where Parkinsons patients get up and talk about the challenges they face in their lives. Many of them do it with grit and good humor. I found the scene to be quite inspiring.

Obviously that is one of my favourite scenes as well.

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I've been hearing a lot about the deep brain surgery (or whatever it's called) as a surefire cure for Parkinsons. It sounds very radical and may be still in the experimental stage, but may be worth seeking out in a few years' time, if and when it establishes itself and becomes a routine treatment.

Good luck with everything.

Yes it is ab option but one of last resort as far as I can tell. Lots and lots of online stuff, though.

That's news to me. I didn't know there was *anything* that could be a surefire cure.

'Surefire' never is with anything I suppose, but it does sound promising. There are EU tests going on for a vaccine right now as well. Fingers crossed.

Deep brain surgery and "surefire cure" are two phrases I have rarely encountered together before!

Does lobotomy fall in there somewhere?

No, I think they place a kind of needle at a certain point and it makes an immediate difference. The patient is conscious during the process and notices it immediately. This obviously needs more research, but it seems to have worked on some people already.

So nothing is removed, it's just that electrical stimulus re-organise the synapses (in layman's terms, that is, before someone comes along with the brain surgeons's version of what happens)

Please excuse if this gets posted twice - connection went wonky. Crikey, if they can't get that right, I'm not sure I would want to have my brain fiddled with.

There was a TV documentary about that, I think it might have been about the first patient to have that sort of "Open Skull" treatment it was a long time ago and I don't remember which channel.