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Jack, Yes, certain forms of parkinsonism can come from encephalitis as happened following World War I. The people in the book/movie "Awakenings" were of that sort. There has not been a known new case in over 60 years. "Other serious viruses" is probably true but this makes a step presumed to be true but not proven. We think the encephalitis of the 1918-1929 period was viral, but at the time we could not detect viruses. Injury can cause parkinsonism, and injury can include "vascular accidents" such as strokes. Medications such as the Stellazine & Haldol can cause parkinsonism, but we generally call it tardive dyskinesia. It is usually reversable. A Spanish study linked verapamil [for high blood pressure] to parkinsonism. What most of us have is idiopathic Parkinson's disease which, by definition, is from an unknown cause. It may be genetically linked as far as susceptibility, but the "trigger" is unknown Will Will Johnnston A.P.D.A. DelMarVA Chapter Pres. 4049 Oakland School Road Salisbury MD 21804 USA 410-543-0110 ---------- From: Jack Orrell <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Can Medications Cause PD ? Date: Sunday, March 19, 2000 10:42 PM In the March 12, 2000 Washington Times article by Karen Goldberg Goff she writes, in part: ' Parkinson's also can occur as a result of illness, such as encephalitis or other serious viruses, injury or some medications used to treat psychiatric disorders and high blood pressure.' It's not clear whether Ms. Goff was quoting this from any single source or authority. However, if we take this statement at face value, are we to believe that medications we may have taken for these rather common disorders might have contributed to our PD?--- and, if this is true, shouldn't these drugs be 'red-flagged' as being dangerous? After all, PD is a pretty harsh 'side effect'! Maybe we, the PIEN, have tossed this around before and perhaps it is already documented--if so, I'd appreciate any feedback from people like Janet Paterson, Joe Bruman, etc. By the way Ivan, did you notice that viruses are also mentioned? The purpose of this post is to try to get to the bottom of this statement and is not meant, in any way, to demean an excellent, supportive, well-written article. Jack Orrell 72/7/9