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Hi everybody ! I am new to this group, as you will all probably realise. I am a Medical Research Scientist, doing research on blood platelets. I also have a general interest in science, mostly biological sciences. My father, who is now 87 years old, has had Parkinson's disease for about 10 years now. I think the worst thing for him is the fact that he couldn't play the violin since he started to get tremors (he was a violinist by profession). Now he gets frustrated with himself and severely depressed. Of course, depression is part of the symptoms of Parkinsonism. For my part, I feel very sorry for him, to see someone become less and less mobile and at the same time having to depend on l- DOPA with all its side-effects. I have heard of some interesting experiments on animals (and on humans, I believe) where a certain area of the brain is grafted from a healthy donor to a recipient's brain with Parkinson's - resulting in almost complete cure ! They will have to look at the long term effects of course, but this is promising. Well, that's it for now.... Like to hear from you ! o--------------------------------------------------------------------o | Henry Pieters, PhD. Email: [log in to unmask] | | P O Box 339 (G2) | | Department of Haematology | | University of the Orange Free State | | Bloemfontein, RSA PHONE: (+27 51) 405 3571 | |====================================================================| | <<<<<<<<<<<<< DISCLAIMER >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> | | All messages are my own, not those of the University | o--------------------------------------------------------------------o