Hello to all: My name is Larry Allen. I am a 49 year old male, diagnosed with PD about three and one-half years ago. I have remained in the shadows for the past several months while I have perused (and appreciated) the letters from PD sufferers or their relatives or other interested parties offering helpful advice and information, or seeking (and often receiving) assistance or answers to sometimes annoying, sometimes heart-breaking problems. I have enjoyed some private e-mail correspondence with several people from the PD Information Exchange, but because of the recent exchange of heated letters, I feel compelled to emerge and make whatever small contribution I can. To Alan Bonander: Thank you for your well-crafted and delightfully literate and informative letters and articles on this Exchange. I submit that you have helped and given hope to more people with PD and their family members and caregivers than you can possibly know. I wish you well. To Bob Fink: Thanks to you for your freely given advice, information and opinion in your frequent contributions, and the time you have spent giving them, when you could have quite easily and understandingly been doing something else. To Barbara Yacos: I thank you for your many and varied postings to this exchange which have contained much helpful information and advice. Your spirit and courage are an inspiration to your fellow PD'ers. Keep your chin up, and hope the RLS abates. To Robert Carpenter and others decrying the "flame": There's no denying that the author in question got a little carried away in an emotional response to an emotional issue. I'm glad she and Dr. Fink have apparently cleared the decks on that matter. I feel certain he understands the kinds of emotions these matters can generate and am pleased that they have worked it out. He knows his presence is appreciated here and she knows her presence is appreciated here. They both are valued contributors. To Peter Kidd: You are right in saying that Parkinsonians know their illness as well as (and often better than) the experts. It is, indeed, difficult for "healthy" people to fully understand or for Parkinsonians to adequately describe what it feels like to experience the steady, progressive deterioration and loss of many vital physical (and mental) functions, or the frustrations, the anxieties, the depression, the despair that can accompany these changes. It can be like a dark, oppressive cloud looming on the horizon, ever-present, always moving closer, closer. To all: (a) I support the concept that this Exchange should be a forum for information, advice, guidance and support on the subject of Parkinson's disease, and that these communications take place in an atmosphere of civility, even if there is disagreement. On the other hand, before getting too carried away in defense of civility and too spirited in criticizing an isolated lapse, I suggest we think about it a little, and then, try to walk a mile in the offending person's shoes.... (b) Like many other PD'ers, I've done a great deal of reading and studying about PD, and will try to make contributions I feel might be interesting or helpful to the group. I am particularly interested in research into neurotrophic factors that is going on in a number of locations around the country, and strongly believe that within five to fifteen years, pallidotamies, fetal cell implants and similar measures will be a thing of the distant past, as it will be possible to generate new dopamine-producing neurons, and/or regenerate old ones, and/or introduce genetically altered dopamine-producing cells, which will effectively cure Parkinson's disease. There is reason for hope for those of us with PD as well as other neuro-degenerative disorders. In the meantime, we need to take care of ourselves, exercise, eat wisely, take medication wisely, keep a positive attitude, try not to lapse into the morass of depression, do everything we can to retard the disorder's progression, and value and enjoy each prescious moment of life to the fullest extent possible. Take care of yourself, and let's all take care to keep this exchange a shining example of the Internet at its best. Best regards, Larry Allen ([log in to unmask])