You've certainly got THIS Parkie taking an about-face in her
thinking, Dennis.   I'd never even questioned those "sacred
cow-type points" prior to your commentary, and welcome your
realistic (and prolly right on point) viewpoint.

Thanks Dennis for daring us to see reality for what it is.

Barb Mallut
[log in to unmask]


-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis Greene <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thursday, October 07, 1999 10:58 AM
Subject: Some discussion points


>I have noticed a tendency of late to treat some far from certain
things
>about the cure as if they were articles of faith. These include:
>
>- The cure is coming soon
>
>- The cure will be found .
>
>- the cure will benefit everyone
>
>- the cure should be the paramount consideration of the PD
community
>
>- time is running out - we must have the cure now
>
>- And finally (the one I shall no doubt run foul of) - anyone who
disputes
>any of these is thinking negatively.
>
>I have no wish to start an argument but I would love to start an
exploration
>of these statements in the hope that should we find in practice
that any of
>them is not in fact true we will be better prepared to deal with
that
>reality. To this end I offer the following thoughts.
>
>## The cure is coming soon:
>
>Of course it depends on how you define 'soon' but I see the
following as
>indicators that the cure is still some years away.
>
>* they are still at the basic research stage with the most lines
of
>investigation - no-one has yet got past the 'this looks very
promising'
>stage. As the lead time from E Day (Eureka Day) to C Day (Cured
Day) is
>anything from 5 to 10 years we have that period of time still in
front of us
>AS A MINIMUM.  It could well be very much longer.
>
>* I would suggest that the medical establishment anticipates that
the
>cure will be some while yet. A strong indicator of this is the
>proliferation of centres performing PD surgery and the numbers of
doctors
>learning the techniques. You don't invest that much time money
and
>infrastructure unless you anticipate a return on your investment
over a
>reasonable period.
>
>## The cure will be found
>
>Again it depends on exactly how you define cure. If we are
talking about
>eradicating a disease so that it no longer exists then we are
really going
>up against the odds. I tried to think of how many and which
diseases
>medical science had eradicated and there aren't many - and most
of those
>were
>'cured' by preventing people getting them in the first place. If
the 'cure'
>for Pd falls into that category it will only occur after they
find the cause
>and wonderful as that will be it won't be of much help to those
of us
>already
>afflicted. As any cure of this nature is only likely to occur
after a cause
>has been found I would think it is a long way off yet.
>
>Any cure which will benefit those of us who already have PD will,
by
>definition, be one that cures the individual but does not remove
PD from the
>earth.  Which means that the often expressed wish - for the day
to come when
>we are cured and PD is no more - is meaningless unless we are
talking about
>two different days and two different cures.
>
>## The cure will benefit everyone
>
>This, as already discussed, will depend on what form it takes.  A
>preventative helps only those who don't yet have PD, an inhibitor
is better
>for those in the early stages than for those in the later, and so
on.
>
>## the cure should be the paramount consideration of the PD
community
>
>I believe that it is far from certain that the cure is imminent
and also
>that we do not know that it will be of equal benefit to all of
us.
>Consequently I believe that research into managing the disease
should have
>at least equal priority.  This type of research has the added
advantage that
>benefits flow from it continually as opposed to us all waiting on
a cure
>that will be some years yet and may be a great many years yet.
>
>##  time is running out - we must have the cure now
>
>I too would like to see a cure in my lifetime (preferably one I
can benefit
>from), but I have never quite worked out why so may of us seem to
think that
>it MUST happen in time to save THIS generation - what's so
special about us?
>
>## anyone who disputes any of these is thinking negatively.
>
>It is not negative to see things as they are.
>
>A positive attitude which exists by ignoring the realities is
really denial
>
>
>
>Dennis.
>+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>Dennis Greene 49/dx 37/ onset 32
>There's nothing wrong with me that a cure for PD won't fix!
>email - [log in to unmask]
>Website - http://members.networx.net.au/~dennisg/
>+++++++++++++++++++++++++++