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Local Man Starts Parkinson's Group ; Support Will Target Young-Onset Patients By BILL RADFORD THE GAZETTE David Walker has felt the isolation, embarrassment and anger. He was 33 when he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, a progressive brain disorder that causes tremors and impairs balance and coordination. It's primarily a disease of the elderly: Most patients are diagnosed at age 60 or older. About 5 percent of Parkinson's patients, though, are diagnosed before age 40. Actor Michael J. Fox, who has become the public face of young-onset Parkinson's, was diagnosed at age 30. Parkinson's is not a terminal disease, but those with youngonset Parkinson's face a lifetime of medications, of seeing their body increasingly betray them as their symptoms worsen. "We start younger, so we have it for a longer time," Walker says. Walker used to be his own worst enemy. At first he ignored his condition. Then he overmedicated. Now he's older -- nearly 44 -- and wiser. And he wants to help others with young-onset Parkinson's as they go through similar struggles. The Colorado Springs man is forming a support group for people with young-onset Parkinson's, which will be a subgroup of the local Jeanne Taylor Parkinson's Support Group. "People David's age feel more comfortable without the older folks around, particularly when they're beginning their exploration of what Parkinson's is," says Richard Pfarrer, chairman of the Colorado Parkinson Foundation and president of the Jeanne Taylor support group. That group is made up primarily of people in their 60s and 70s, he says. At 53, he's one of the younger ones; he was diagnosed at age 48. Ironically, he attended the support groups for years as a caregiver for his mother-in-law, who has Parkinson's, before being diagnosed himself. The tremors caused by Parkinson's are more of a social stigma for younger people, he says. And with most of their life still ahead of them, they're likely to be more interested in a cure for the disease than learning how to cope. The promise of a cure is tantalizingly close, Pfarrer says, with areas of study such as gene therapy and stem-cell research holding great promise. "The cure easily could be five, 10 years around the corner," Pfarrer says. Walker points to another advance: deep-brain-stimulation therapy. In late 2005, he underwent surgery at Penrose Hospital to implant a device that acts as a pacemaker of sorts for the brain. Electrical impulses sent to the brain block the abnormal nerve signals that cause Parkinson's symptoms. "The benefits of surgery have been way beyond my wildest dreams," Walker says. His symptoms have eased but have not been erased, however, and he's still on medication, though at a lower dose than before. But Walker, who was living in the assisted-living facility at the Union Printers Home, has improved enough that he's living on his own and looking for part-time work. Walker, who has been profiled in The Gazette and on television, also has made appearances on behalf of Medtronic, the company behind deep-brain-stimulation therapy. "Because I've had this notoriety, I wanted to use it for good," he says. And spearheading the support group also helps him by giving him a sense of purpose. "I think a lot of people with disabilities, they lose their job, their spouse -- they lose some of the main focus of their life." CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0272 or [log in to unmask] TO LEARN MORE A new support group for people with youngonset Parkinson's disease and their caregivers will meet from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. the second Saturday of each month starting Oct. 14 at Penrose Library, 20 N. Cascade Ave. For more information, e-mail David Walker at [log in to unmask] or call 634-0104. To learn more about Parkinson's disease, go to: www.parkinson.org, National Parkinson Foundation www.co-parkinson.org, Colorado Parkinson Foundation and Jeanne Taylor Parkinson's Support Group www.yopa.org, Young Onset Parkinson's Association www.michaeljfox.org, Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (c) 2006 Gazette, The; Colorado Springs, Colo.. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn