Here is Janet Paterson's  announcement, with minor but necessary
corrections,
followed by the original Tutu  Prayer.  Please feel  free to use as
needed.------------------------------------------------------------------
---
>
>Tutu Offers Prayer for Parkinson's Disease Awareness
>
> Friday, April 9, 1999

 South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu has written a Prayer,dated
April 7, 1999,  which follows immediately below this news announcement,
for
>all those suffering from Parkinson's Disease (PD), to mark World
>Parkinson's Awareness Month in April, and World Parkinson's Day on
>April 11.
>
>April 11th is the birthday of James Parkinson, the English physician,
>who
>in 1817 was the first to describe the symptoms of PD.
>
>Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus and Nobel Peace Laureate, Robert W.
>Woodruff
>Visiting Professor of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta,
>Georgia,
>offered his support following communications with Ivan Suzman,  an
American now living in Portland, Maine , who was a
>resident of South Africa from 1973-1979.

>
>Suzman, 49, was diagnosed with 'Young Onset' Parkinson's Disease
>(YOPD)
>over ten years ago.
>
>A former anti-apartheid activist, he is no longer able to work full
>time in
>his chosen profession, anthropology, but has been able to transfer
>his
>now-limited energies into activism towards promoting awareness of
>Parkinson's Disease, primarily through his membership in the
>Parkinson
>Information Exchange Network (PIEN), an internet discussion list.
>
>Since the PIEN, established in 1993 by another YOPD, Barbara
>Patterson, of
>Hamilton, Ontario, currently boasts over 1800 members in 36 countries
>worldwide, Tutu's office concluded that the on-line support group
>would be
>the best means of issuing and distributing his prayer for
>Parkinson's.
>
>Parkinson's Disease is a chronic, progressive movement disorder caused
>by
>the gradual 'dying off' of brain cells in an area known as the
>substantia
>nigra.
>
>When plentiful, these cells produce a neurotransmitter, dopamine,
>which is
>critical to normal movement.
>
>The shortage of dopamine manifests as one or more of the classic
>symptoms
>of PD - tremor, muscle stiffness, slowness of movement, and balance
>difficulties.
>
>To date, there is no known prevention or cure for PD; current
>pharmacological and surgical treatments can only minimize PD's
>symptoms.
>
>Although PD is generally considered a disease of adults, an estimated
>15%
>of PD patients are diagnosed before age 50, while in some countries,
>PD
>strikes up to 10% of all people over the age of 60.
>
>Pope John Paul II, Muhammad Ali, U.S. Attorney-General Janet Reno,
>Gandhi
>photographer Margaret Bourke-White, evangelist Billy Graham, and
>actor
>Michael J. Fox are all sufferers of Parkinson's Disease.
>
>Archbishop Tutu's prayer for Parkinson's will be issued by the end of
>this
>week through these same channels.
>
>This announcement is provided by members of the Parkinson Information
>Exchange Network.
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>janet paterson - 52 now /41 dx /37 onset - almonte/ontario/canada
>[log in to unmask]
>
>Scan some of My Past Posts at:
>     http://www.newcountry.nu/pd/members/janet/index.htm
>Mine the PD List Archives at:
>     http://james.parkinsons.org.uk/
>Cull Nine Million Pub-Med Medical Studies at:
>     http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/
>Comb the 'People With Parkinson's' Web-Ring at:
>     http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=parkie;list

^^^^^^  WARM GREETINGS  FROM  ^^^^^^^^^^^^  :-)
 Ivan Suzman        49/39/36       [log in to unmask]   :-)
 Portland, Maine    land of lighthouses       63    deg. F   :-)
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