Parkinsons' Related, Published Articles by rlmedia on February 9th, 2008
Published in the Vancouver Sun, November 14, 2006

THE REALITY OF A CRUEL DISEASE

The ravings of Rush Limbaugh aside, living with Parkinson's is a hard part
to act and it's harder to explain     There has been considerable clamor
over U.S. radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh's  recent comment that Michael
J Fox was "acting" and "off his medication" during the taping of a political
campaign ad in which Fox supported Missouri Democratic Senator candidate
Claire McCaskill for her stand in favor of publicly funded stem cell
research. She was elected.
     Limbaugh refused to retract his allegation and has countered that he is
a victim- that his remarks were taken out of context by a predatory press.
     The fact is that it's hard to act the part of a person with Parkinson's
disease. It is even harder to explain to the unburdened the feelings and
frustrations of living with Parkinson's disease, I should know, I was
diagnosed with Parkinson's disease on December 7, 1993 at the age of 41! I
have a couple of things in common with MJF [neither are fame or fortune]-we
are both from the lower mainland and we were both diagnosed with Young Onset
PD.
     What Fox was exhibiting in those endorsement spots and again recently
on CNN's Anderson Cooper program was severe dyskinesia. All that head
bobbing, shoulder rolling and those uncontrolled movements are symptoms
brought on not by PD but by the drugs ingested to offset the debilitating
effects of PD.
     Whether Fox is taking his medication or not is irrelevant. The baseline
of Parkinson's for him is probably the torment of rigidity and a lack of the
ability to initiate any movement. The embarrassment from his dyskinesia is
probably much preferred to his unmedicated state as at least his medication
allows him to appear in public and continue contributing to society.
     The four cardinal signs of PD are tremor, slowness of movement,
rigidity and balance problems. Everyone with Parkinson's disease has their
own set of symptoms and side-effects caused by their reaction to the various
medications prescribed to replace the missing dopamine which is the chemical
that carries signals between the nerves in the brain.
     It is estimated that PD affects approximately 100,000 Canadians and 6.3
million people worldwide. Men and women from all countries and ethnic
backgrounds are susceptible. There is no cure, no way of predicting its
presence or slowing the progression of this debilitating disease. We have
been given a death sentence but we are not stale-dated. How you choose to
face this disease will ultimately determine your fate.
      Inferences have been drawn in some newspaper articles that Fox is at
fault for hiding his disease over the early years of his diagnosis.
Typically, many with this disease try to lead normal lives for as long as
possible. It's a matter of coming to terms with this disease and each of us
have our own timetable. For those diagnosed at a young age [average age is
60] the onset of PD means a career reassessment that will ultimately make a
definite impact on your financial status. You simply cannot work at the same
pace as before, and undue stress only heightens the effects of your
symptoms.
     Parkinson's disease forces the afflicted to confront their lives and
how they wish to live them.
     It took me about seven years to get to the point of reconciliation with
my condition because I couldn't hide my symptoms anymore. Friends were
starting to ask my wife what was wrong with me; and two of my last employers
were less then sympathetic and undertook actions to remove me from their
payrolls.
     Yet, as Fox says in his autobiography "we all have a bag of hammers".
In other words, we all have some challenges that we must deal with in our
lives.
     Fox is a proponent of stem cell research and the search for a renewable
resource of cells for transportation. The use of embryonic stem cells is
controversial for those who believe that cells are living things.
     I'm no expert on the subject, but the blastocyst [from which the
embryonic stem cells are generated] is a simple ball of about 100 cells
which contains no nerve cells, no muscle cells, no gut cells, no bone cells,
and no blood cells. Excess human blastocysts are available from in vitro
fertilization clinics mainly because couples who have undergone successful
in-vitro fertilization do not want to under go it again and they have no
need to continue paying for the storage of their blastocysts. It makes sense
to utilize this resource rather then flushing it down the drain.
     Fox has raised awareness and millions of dollars through his charitable
organization the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Who among us can fault his
courage to expose his condition and his sincere efforts to find a cure for
PD? He is a Hero on the scale of two other inspirational figures from this
province, Terry Fox and Rick Hansen.
     As for Limbaugh, his cruel comments may actually help advance the stem
cell debate and promote more discussion of this important issue.

Rayilyn Brown
Board Member AZNPF
Arizona Chapter National Parkinson's Foundation
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