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On Saturday, 24 May, the Southwestern Ontario Region of Parkinson Society Canada held its annual conference in London, Ontario. It started out with a talk by Dr. Mandar Jog about Parkinson's from the doctor's perspective: what comprises the examination that he, a Movement Disorder Specialist, gives his patients and why. It was not the traditional update that we expected to hear, but rather a far more interesting talk about how a doctor thinks and why this works to help his patients. Following this was a surprisingly clear discussion of stem cells by Dr. Mick Bhatia, Principal Scientist, Developmental Stem Cell Biology Group of the Robarts Research Institute here in London. (See also Murray Charters' posting on 13 May, "CANADA: London Centre Lands $5M, Top U.S. Brain") Dr. Bhatia explained, among other things, how stem cell transplants have been going on over fifteen years - only we recognize them as bone marrow transplants. With such a great first half to the program, I pitied the second half which had to follow. Without minimizing the other speakers, we were bowled over by the presentation of Judy Hazlett and Roger Buxton, who had organized a presentation for police personnel which explains the problems that People with Parkinson's have when confronted by police: Our slowness to respond, our tendency to freeze, our expressionless faces, for example, which might easily be mistaken by the police for failure to follow their instructions. This presentation is now given to the Toronto Police and the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) and other Canadian police forces. I inquired about the possibility of giving this presentation to other police forces outside of Canada. It would be a useful thing for all of us. The piece de resistance, however, was handed out at the end of the program with surprisingly little comment. It is an eight-page brochure entitled, "What You Need to Know About Parkinson's - Information for Health Care Staff at Long-Term Care Facilities." It includes a Tip Sheet, a two-page summary. A questioner pointed out that it is also suitable for hospitals and any other care facility. It is well done and comprehensive. For every Parkinsonian in a care facility or about to enter one, I would strongly recommend that you have it be read by all staff. Download it for yourself (2.12 Megabytes) at http://parkinson.ca/pdf/LTCBrochurewithTipSheet.pdf The first two presentations, I understand, were recorded. It might be possible to have them and/or transcripts of them on the web at some date in the future also. Art ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn