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Hi, First of all, this is my first experience interacting with a list server, so please bear with me if things go awry.... I just discovered this group yesterday and scanned briefly through your archives. This seems to be a wonderful, self-supporting, knowledgable and compassionate group of people. My father is 68 years old and lives in England where he was diagnosed with PD about 5 years ago. He displayed many of the classic symptoms, the most curious of which I found to be the slow, but well controlled motions during eating (anyone know the mechanics behind this? - most literature I've read refers mostly to tremors and walking problems). His medication kept things pretty much under control for the first 4 years and he was able to lead a relatively normal life, but in the past 12 months his condition has deteriorated drama- tically. My mother and brother are providing him with almost 24 hour care, although at the moment he is in hospital where his doctor is attempting to "fine-tune" the medication for both the PD and high blood pressure. Some of the side effects of the medications have become severe also - he's experiencing paranoia and aggression, which puts an added stress on the lives of his care- givers. Does anyone know of PD support groups in England, especially in the Middlesex and Surrey areas? I know that such groups exist here in the US and Canada, but my family in England has not encountered any equivalent organisations so far. If they exist, they do not seem to be well advertised. My mother and brother could both use some moral support - even practical support seems to be severely lacking from the health care and social services systems there, or at least prohibitively expensive. They are starting to get pretty depressed as they look at the prospect of progressively further deterioration of Dad's condition. They could use some direct advice on day to day coping - which doesn't seem to be coming from the health care professionals. Even a chat on the phone with someone in their area who has experienced similar problems I think would help them to get a better perspective on things and maybe get them networked into more resource options. I'm coming into this group with questions right off the bat, sorry I don't have much direct experience with PD to be able to contribute much. I get to go back to England rarely, so my contact with my family is mostly by phone and letter. I'm sure my exposure to their problems is severely filtered by those mediums. Thanks. And thanks Barbara for the welcome and for providing this list. Ian (Internet: [log in to unmask])