At 06:47 PM 10/18/96 -0400, you wrote:
>Hello,
>I am Joe Huskey from Southeast MO STate University. I have
>several questions for you all out there. I am not sure if
>my mother who is age 72 has PD or not. She has tremors in both
>hands when hold papers, coffee, etc. Her thumbs appear to twitch
>from time to time. She recently had surgery for hip replacement
>and after the surgery her hand tremors were worse. She has had
>the tremors for about 20 years and was diagnosed as essential
>tremor. She is also diabetic. She will have diagnostic tests
>in the near future. Any comments would be appreciated. This
>is my first posting so if I am making any mistakes I will
>apologize ahead of time.
>Joe Huskey
>
>Joe Huskey, Ph.D.
>Advising Coordinator
>College of Education
>Southeast Missouri State University
>[log in to unmask]
>
Dear Joe,
Thhe diagnosis of Parkinson's is tough. There are no sure tests except at
autopsy, and I personally doubt that autopsy is 100% right... I do not wish
to experiment on myself..
There are many possible manifestations of the disease as you will see on
this listserv.
The worsening could be the result of merely passage of time, general trauma
from the operation, use of certain anesthetics in the operation, some
strange quirk of the diabetic condition, and even maybe too much lead from
the bootheel of Mo.
One god test I have observed is card shuffling. Friend was diagnosed as PD
by a neurologist. I doubted it..he was an excellent card shuffler.. At a top
notch movement disorder clinic the PD diagnosis was reversed. Essential
tremor was the culprit. Generally a trial of taking Sinemet for a few days
will tell a story. If it works and she is better, Parkinson's...no better,
probably something else. See a good movement disorder specialist.
Will
WILL JOHNSTON 4049 OAKLAND SCHOOL ROAD
SALISBURY, MD 21804-2716
410-543-0110
Pres A.P.D.A. DelMarVa Chapter
63 Dx1991 Symptoms 1971
