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R.C. Able wrote: > > Dear Jonathan and Suzanne, Sorry to hear about your mom's recent > exacerbations of symptoms! You mentioned, your brother in Calf. (is he mom's > primary CG?) feels she is "in the end stage." Evidently she has had an > increase in symptoms in recent weeks and at this time seems to have a lot of > dementia. In my experience and to my knowledge, there doesn't seem to be any > descrete "end stage" associated with the disease, but rather perhaps a > culmination of physical & psychological factors weakening the immune system > and inviting onset of various other potentially fatal illnesses. I Can't offer much comfort here, but my little 2 cents' worth: The "end" stage of PD, as in other neuro diseases, is when it spreads to the autonomic system. When patient can't swallow, or when liquid backs up from stomach, it may enter lungs and cause suffocation or pneumonia, as it did in my in-law after 20 years of MS. Other autonomic failure such as bowel motion may also require constant medical intervention. The sole "blessing" of PD is its slowness of progress, which usually lets it be overtaken by the "normal" ailments of extreme old age. Joe J. R. Bruman (818) 789-3694 3527 Cody Road Sherman Oaks, CA 91403-5013