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It has been quite a while since I have posted anything to this list and I feel an updating may be of interest to a number of people. My name is Tom Riess. Some of you may know me as the champion of the blue filter phenomenon a means of facilitating the suppression of dyskinesia in some PD subjects. Others may have heard of my work with visual cues and virtual reality, which involves the use of the virtual equivalent of kinesia paradoxa and has been unscientifically shown to impact positively on akinesia, festination, shuffling gait, freezing and dyskinetic gait. Work continues in both these areas. I have seen many recent postings on Amgen and GDNF and while this appears to be a very promising area of research I wonder how many of you are aware of the work being done at Guilford Pharmaceutical where they will shortly begin human clinical trials of a much smaller molecule (small enough to cross the blood-brain barrier) and shown to be very effective in reversing the effects of PD in primates by regenerating nerve growth. On a more personal level I recently underwent my fourth Palidotomy procedure (and first one of the"other" side). I have had PD for 16 years, I am presently 49 years old. Pre-operatively I was at the point where I could no longer walk while either "off" (due to severe akinesia) or on (due to severe dyskinesia). I was skin and bone due to chronic energy expenditure associated with the dyskinesia. As a result of the procedure I have significant impairment of my speech. However, my dyskinesia is completely abolished. I am no longer on the dyskinetic treadmill and have gained 20 lbs. I look normal. My sleeping has also greatly improved from 4 hours a night to about 8 hours a night. I can walk essentially normally in open terrain although tight maneuvers in narrow space still cause me difficulty. Speech therapy has improved my speech and I am hopeful that I will continue to improve in this area. On balance I am pleased and have just returned from a ski trip at Lake Tahoe. In short I never thought I could feel this good again. regards, tom