United Parkinson Foundation
833 W. Washington Boulevard
Chicago, IL, USA
60607
312-733-1893
Just received a VERY informative pamphlet on PD from the
above. Here's a direct quote from Page 1.
Q. "Is Parkinson's disease hereditary?"
A. "NO. Although there are OCCASIONAL reports of families
where parkinsonism has occurred over several generations,
such instances are considered RARE. If the patient finds
that other relatives suffer with shaking or have difficulty
walking, it is MUCH more likely that the patient's family
has FAMILIAL TREMOR, which is NOT Parkinson's disease.
The two diagnoses can be separated in that the tremor of
parkinsonism is seen at rest, and that of familial tremor is
more promineent when the patient moves, as in writing or
eating.
The two conditions are not mutually exclusive, and a patient
with familial tremor in his ancestry may, of course, have
parkinsonism, or may have both simultaneously."
The UPF people in Chicago are VERY nice to talk to over the
phone and can be very helpful. Besides the PD pamphlet,
they sent me another one on Essential Tremor, which I take
to be approximately the same as Familial Tremor. They
also steered me and my wife to a nearby "movement disorder
clinic" where the doctors are more experienced with PD and
ET than most FPs, or even neurologists. Good people!
The pamphlet on Essential Tremor was put out by:
International Tremor Foundation
833 W. Washington Boulevard
Chicago, IL, USA
60607
312-733-1893
Notice that they share offices with United Parkinson
Foundation. However, I don't know anything about them
as yet, except that their ET pamphlet was informative.
Paul Millikin [log in to unmask]
