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Art wrote: > It was pointed out to us at the MJF Foundation forum this past June > that stem cells would be useful in fighting other ailments than > PD - or neurological diseases in general. Specifically mentioned, > I remember, was heart disease. > > Sorry, list, but as far as number of people affected, we're small > potatoes compared to these people. The number of people who have > heart disease, who have a family member with heart disease, who have > had a close relative die from heart disease, whose doctors feel they > are candidates for heart disease, etc., is many times the number > affected by PD. What is this group doing to further stem cell > research? > I assume you mean what is the *heart* group doing to further stem cell research... I personally have no knowledge of any efforts they may be putting forth... You know, of course, that Mary Tyler Moore represented the Juvenile Diabetes group in testifying (along with our own Michael J. Fox) before the Senate committee about 10 days ago... With that info in mind, when I discovered Senator Brownback's amendments, I looked up the juvenile diabetes in Washington and called their 1-800 #. They were intrigued, to say the least, that a Canadian (who had no association with diabetes) had info they were not aware of, and had taken the time to look up their # and call... I'm not certain what their specific advocacy plans are, but rest assured they were actively working on a *plan*. > > The principle under which PAN used to operate (and to a goodly > extent still does) was that they used their limited funds to get > the U. S. Government to spend money on projects many times that > amount. I called it "amplifying" their money, as the output of > money spent on Parkinson research as a result of PAN efforts was > so much greater than the money input to PAN. > > We have a similar situation here, perhaps. We can all write and > call and fax and e-mail our Senators and Representatives until > we're blue in the face. Or we can explain to our friends at risk > or with family at risk for heart disease how important stem cell > research is to them - and get ten or twenty new people to write > their Senators and Representatives. > > It seems to me as though the upcoming election in the United States > could be a one-issue election for many of us: Gore favors funding > stem cell research; Bush straddles the lines, at best. But if Bush > were to favor stem cell research and Gore be against it, Bush would > get my vote. Ditto for Senator and Representative and other races > in the election. Only if the candidates were to substantially agree > on stem cell research would I look at the rest of their platform. > > If more people become aware of the potential of stem cell research, > it would help. If they let it be known that they too consider this > to be a single issue election and that stem cells are that issue, > it might change the attitudes and positions of our candidates. > More important yet, it could affect the results of our election. > > There are so many people with so much in their lives to be gained > from stem cell research - and what do they know about it? It would > seem to be a good time to help our allies to spread the word about > the potential of stem cells to their constituent groups. This could > be another example of "amplification" of our efforts. > > What are our Parkinson's institutions and foundations doing about it? > > What tools do we have at our disposal specifically for this task? > > How can we work together to do something about it? > > Any ideas? > > Art Hi Art, Thank you for an excellent letter and for some good ideas and thought provoking questions... We have been lookin' up stuff on Stem Cells and How to Enact a Bill and How to Write a Letter to Your Representitive and fillibusters and what invoke cloture entails and Brownback and How to Contact Your Representitive and so on.... Sharing here on the List means we reach 1900+ List Members in 37 countries, or something like that... If we shared our info and rallied the Cancer Foundation, the Heart Foundation, The Diabetes group, the Spinal Cord group etc. then how many people might we *enlist* in unified support? Whattaya think? .............. murray [log in to unmask] View the Parkinson's Awareness Links at: http://www.geocities.com/janet313/pienet/wwweb/index.html