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Health workers lack knowledge of Parkinson's 15 August 2008 Health professionals in England lack medical knowledge and up to date training on the mental health issues associated with Parkinson's disease, according to new research. The Parkinson's Disease Society (PDS) found that many of the 470 professional they surveyed had difficulty identifying the symptoms associated with Parkinson's. Around a third of those surveyed were not confident they could effectively diagnose a case of the degenerative disease and more than half of those surveyed had not received any training in the last two years. As a result of the survey PDS is holding a one-day health conference for professionals wanting to update their mental health knowledge. Daiga Heisters, national education advisor at the PDS, said: "The Parkinson's and Mental Health Education Project has clearly identified the need for health and social care professionals to increase their understanding of Parkinson's and related mental health issues." The three main symptoms of Parkinson's are tremors, slowness of movement and stiffness or rigidity of muscles, according to PDS. © Adfero Ltd Rayilyn Brown Director AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn