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Hello Howard, I too have been lurking on this list for a while. I did send a message of introduction and my Mother has had experiences similar to your father. They are calling her condition Parkinson's Syndrome which I understand to be defined as one having the symptoms of PD but not the disease, but she has also been treated with Sinemet for the past 2 years. She has no tremor, but has lost her sense of smell with accompanying loss of appetite, bradykinesia, festination, rigidity, teeny handwriting, and extreme fatigue. She is in Salem, Oregon near my sister and is seeing a new neurologist who has scheduled her for an MRI etc. next week. I hope we learn more soon about her prognosis from these tests. Her most serious problems are mental. She has no short term memory and suffers a lot from confusion and the inability to remember or think clearly. She does remember long- ago events and personalitites. She has lost the ability to make memories, and that part is very sad for us all. I am here in Boone, NC, very far away from Mother and, like you, am trying to make some sense out of a puzzling diagnosis. Her doctor told me last summer when I visited in Calif. (I moved them to Oregon while there) that her dementia could be expected to worsen until she wouldn"t recognize us anymore and we should prepare for that. They don't know if Alzheimer's also is present, but the symptoms are the same. I don't understand what the long term prognosis is for a person with Parkinson's Syndrome as opposed to the Disease. This would be good to find out. Maybe someone on the list can answer that one. We were told to expect the worst because of her mental condition and we wonder if the Sinemet doesn't aggravate her cognition problems. Plus, if she doesn't have PD, why does Sinemet help? I wish you and your family well. I was glad to hear that someone else was in the dark about this. Melony Winkelmann Boone, NC On Wed, 8 Mar 1995, Howard Koster wrote: > Hi, > > I have been lurking this board for a few weeks now (since > the WSJ article) and I'm moved by people's comments and > excited by the possibilities here. I've been sending the > daily digests to my parents, who are, well, computer-free. > > My father, age 67, has had the symptoms of Parkinson's for > the last 2 years, steadily getting worse. Specifically, he > has intense rigidity, a very stooping posture, the small > steps, and some (but not overwhelming) hand shaking. He also > gets very tired easily and he is losing his eyesight > (although opthamologists say his eyesight is fine). He has > been diagnosed not with PD, but with Parkinson's Syndrome, > which is supposedly different. Is there anyone else out > there who has heard this diagnosis? He was on L-dopa for > about 3 weeks with no response. He was also on and off > sinemet and eldipril for a while with no response. > Currently he's not on any medication. Has anyone had > similar experiences ? > > Thanks, > -- Howard Koster ([log in to unmask]) >