 |
 |
Dear Rick, In regard to your post re: "Chemicals, how does our percentage compares with the public at large?" My response is...That question could be answered with a national data base for Parkinson's disease. In fact, a national data base could serve to track and profile numerous neurological conditions that affect our populace. In my investigations, I have come across two agencies that our government funds on a national scale. One is the "National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program." It is being developed by the CDC. Information about this program can be found on the CDC web site at _http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/tracking/_ (http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/tracking/) . There is a document that the CDC has prepared that describes a strategy for how this national tracking system would be used to identify environmental associations with disease. CDC strategy.pdf. The second is the "Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, (ATSDR)" It is a federal agency created in 1980 by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act or what is more commonly known as Superfund legislation. This agency is charged with assessing the presence and nature of health hazards at environmental Superfund sites, helping to prevent or reduce further exposure and any illness that might result, and expanding what is known about the health effects of exposure to CERCLA hazardous substances. In reviewing these agencies, my feeling is that neither of the two would be as effective as a simple registry of Parkinson's patients through their physician's referral of a patient fact- sheet to a central national data record center. This information could be used in conjunction with the information that these agencies currently gather as a comprehensive picture of the geographical, age prevalence, toxin exposure, environmental and genetic backgrounds of Parkinson's patients. Implementation of this plan will require extensive public and political support. With the beginning of this new year and the focus of our government on reduced funding for so many domestic programs, I am prone to believe that efforts to accomplish very much at all in the way of health care reform or additional funding for programs such as this will be a challenge. We have many unanswered questions about PD and toxic exposure. Getting the answers to those questions will depend upon the efforts we choose to make. Dee ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn