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This is a lengthy opinionated response to Zippo Bilbrok's message captioned " Re: What is end-stage PD?"dated: 95-11-20. I support looking at the worst possibility, then hoping for the best: Good point (With the fear of looking at end-stage PD being expressed, this is probably he time to ask, is it for everyone? )! True, allot of people tend to lump all PD together and it ain't necessarily so . But as far as the press is concerned, their reports of PD as a mere inconvenience, or their reports of PD as a curiosity for the public's entertainment are misleading for all affected Think about it, they don't show joyful "quick-fixes" for most other serious diseases Although the coverage is good, we should encourage better.The recent shows of pallidotomy success tend to shpw the patient only as someone who sufferred tremor (the general public doesn't get the impact of what tremor & the rest of PD can REALLY encompass) and was suddenly relieved -- jjumping for joy! "That's it Mr. & Mrs. voting public.. no need to worry about PD, no need to demand more research funding 'cause tho it's a shame people shake - it's no biggie cause surgeons can make it disappear like magic!" I'm very joyful for those patients too, and grateful that they've had the courage to go through what they have because we benefit by their courage and by ttheir selfless sharing of ther experience. But again, the truth is they've been through 'h - - -" by having PD, they still face that h - - -'s recurrance again, and they still face being one of the unluckier unlucky ones and be taken down one of the worst of PD's possible roads to a long miserable death. We owe it to those before us who paid the price of horrific torture of PD without today's meds, and we owe it to those of us who will yet be chosen to end up as one of the unluckier ones, to act with the sense of urgency that only fear gives - we need to take action as though we are sared sh - - less. To push insistently through legislation and through public support for better treatment, to give help to our caregivers, to help our doctors learn to take PD seriously, to better the odds that we or our loved ones will not be picked to be the unluckier of the ulucky with PD. I beleve that knowledge begets responsibility. We didn't "choose" to have neurological problems, but we got 'em. And no one REALLY knows how tough it can be unless you end up going through it, or worse yet end up watching helplessly as someone you truly love goes through it. We shouldn't turn away from the worst possibilitires, we should fight to end it. Because it is something to fear. The public needs to know it might happen to them. They must learn that the freaky tremor is not the worst we face. You can bet your bippy hat some poor fool who doesn't tihink PD is a bigee, someone who isn't afraid of it & won't help us stop it, ends up being another one of the unluckier unlucky ones who get PD and get it hard. Someone before us, with less help, got scared and fought PD. Now we benefit from their having faced it and fought it the best they could. Now if we're not scared, we should be, if not for oourselves then for the innocent yet to get PD - we should filght like we're scared - in honor of those before us. ( I'll get off the soap box now.) mhd