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Pat wrote: The first was a direct connection between Parkinson's and the > Spanish Flu of 1918, and the second was that the majority of people with > Parkinson's tend to have low blood pressure There's plenty of evidence that profound fevers, encephalitis, meningitis, and some viral processes *can* be the cause of Parkinson's disease. The 1918 flu was one of the worst pandemics the world has ever known - some of its victims eventually did developed PD, but certainly not all. As for low blood pressure being related to PD - that is true to an extent. Sinemet and the dopamine agonists have a tendency to lower BP. Folks with already low blood pressure soon discover that the meds prescribed to alleviate their Parkinson's Disease can lead to a realm of complications such as dizziness and fainting spells. My husband has extremely high blood pressure, so we use Sinemet as an adjunct to his regular BP meds. Recently when he was prescribed Tasmar in addition to Sinemet and Mirapex his blood pressure plummeted to such a low level that his doctor considered removing him from his hypertensive meds. Reason prevailed, however, and we removed the Tasmar instead. ----- God bless Mary Ann (CG Jamie 60/40)