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It has been with great sadness that I have read the accounts of serious problems following general anesthesia. To at least help relieve some of the anxiety for those who might require anesthesia: My family member with PD (diagnosed 1994 - but with symptoms for at least several years) had a general anesthetic for shoulder surgery in 1989 and again for a ruptured disk earlier in 1994. She experienced no apparent problems from the anesthetic with regard to her mental abilities, and the back surgery was totally successful (she was in excruciating pain before the surgery, and walking independently 2 days later). She is 80 years old, and (since I am not familiar with the grading scale for PD) has fairly mild but obvious symptoms - shuffling gait, expression, voice changes, and a very mild tremor in her face and one hand, and occasional falls. There was no apparent worsening of symptoms after ei ther surgery. I have heard that there is some concern whether general anesthesia might be one of the possible causes (or precipitators) of PD symptoms, which might be a possibility in her case. However, at least the surgery caused not apparent problems for her due to her PD, and in fact, encouraged her to start on an exercise program. Perhaps she was more fortunate than some since her symptoms are relatively mild. Since surgery is not always optional, it is encouraging to know that the results are not always devastating. I do, however, agree with Greta that one should think seriously about the potentially devastating problems it does appear to cause for PD'ers. Barb Colmery does cause with some of those [log in to unmask]