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The source of this article is KEYETV.com: http://tinyurl.com/6qmk6 San Antonio Center Helps Parkinson's Patients Jul 24, 2004 7:10 pm US/Central A San Antonio rehabilitation center is having great success with a special program designed to help people with Parkinson's disease. Iva Nichol is getting used to doing a new kind of balancing act. The San Antonio great-grandmother has been dealing well with Parkinson’s disease for five years, but recently, fell in her front yard and couldn't get up. "My greatest problem is my balance. I fall easily," says Nichol. Nichol is part of the "Access Quality Therapy Services" Parkinson's Outreach Program, or POP. She goes to the center three times a week for six weeks for intensive physical, occupational and speech therapy. It's the only program in the state where all of the therapists have been certified by the National Parkinson's Foundation for allied team treatment. "We want them to live their long life, but we want them to be independent and active and have a quality life," says Kara Daugherty, a physical therapist. Many times, Parkinson’s patients suffer from a loss of voice volume, a problem that can be addressed with aggressive speech therapy. At age 86, Nichol wants to make sure she can maintain her independence and get around like she used to. "I want to be able to go and do what I like to do. I know it's going to help. It's already helped. My movement's a lot easier," says Nichol. Therapists say in the three years they've been fine-tuning this program, they've witnessed some amazing successes. "We’ve seen a number of people improve from being in a wheelchair to ultimately moving with a cane, or a walker or even without an assistive device. It’s phenomenal some of the improvements we've seen," says Daugherty. Statistics show there are more than one million people with Parkinson’s disease in the United States. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn