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This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --part0_896225315_boundary Content-ID: <[log in to unmask]> Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Rep. With Parkinson's Campaigns .c The Associated Press By JENNIFER LOVEN WASHINGTON (AP) - He thinks he's smiling, but often he's not - the muscles in his face won't respond to signals from his brain and a man known for his cheerfulness ends up looking mean or exhausted. He can't stand without pain, and gets stiff sitting for long, too. It's tough to get his signature onto credit card slips. But 46-year-old Rep. Lane Evans can play basketball and, ever the politician, he is thankful he can still shake hands. The eight-term Democratic lawmaker from western Illinois disclosed last week that he has Parkinson's disease. He said in an interview, ``It isn't a disease I would wish on anybody, but at least at this point it's not that bad.'' While facing a tough re-election battle - he's near the top of the Republicans' target list for November - he is considering becoming something of a Parkinson's activist. ``I do believe in the right of privacy very strongly, but now that it's out there I'm going to be talking about it,'' he said. The neurodegenerative disorder affects one in about 200 Americans over 40, including Attorney General Janet Reno, former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali and evangelist Billy Graham. Two other congressmen, Republicans Joe Skeen of New Mexico and Joseph McDade of Pennsylvania, also have revealed they have Parkinson's. McDade is retiring. Parkinson's advocates are eager to enlist prominent people in their efforts to lobby for more money for research into the disease's causes and treatment. The government spends far more per patient studying diseases such as multiple sclerosis and AIDS than on Parkinson's, even though MS and AIDS strike fewer people, said Joan Samuelson, who heads the Parkinson's Action Network. ``We don't have that much clout,'' she said. Medication can mask Parkinson's tremors, stiffness, slurred speech and loss of balance for five to seven years. With patients afflicted young, like Evans, the drugs often work longer. However, once they stop working, the disease progresses into the biological opposite of Alzheimer's. While Alzheimer's destroys the mind but not the body, Parkinson's eventually renders its victims unable to move, swallow or speak while mental abilities stay intact. Evans' symptoms are mild, though complicated by longtime back problems. His arm trembles when he leans on it. He has to inch along the House floor to navigate narrow aisles. But he jogs two or three times a week. And medication has eased severe leg cramps. ``The misperception people have is that you're going to go downhill immediately,'' he said, shifting in his seat to counter discomfort. ``I've talked to so many people who've acted like this might be my last phone call.'' There are occasional reminders of what the future may hold. When Evans learned in 1995 that the reason he couldn't wave his left hand in a Labor Day parade was Parkinson's, he thought immediately of former Rep. Morris Udall. The one-time Democratic presidential candidate now lies disabled from Parkinson's in a Veterans Affairs nursing home in Washington. The powerful image remained with Evans after a tour of the facility. And telling his two young nieces, who along with their parents live with the lifelong bachelor in his Rock Island home, has been the hardest moment so far. Evans remains upbeat. ``I can take a lot,'' said the ex-Marine. ``But again I'm not the worse case. I'm not sure what I would do if it was worse.'' --part0_896225315_boundary Content-ID: <[log in to unmask]> Content-type: message/rfc822 Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Content-disposition: inline From: Gregfmason <[log in to unmask]> Return-path: <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Must Read Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 17:46:28 EDT Organization: AOL (http://www.aol.com) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Subj: Rep. With Parkinson's Campaigns Date: 98-05-26 17:10:25 EDT From: AOL News BCC: Gregfmason Rep. With Parkinson's Campaigns .c The Associated Press By JENNIFER LOVEN WASHINGTON (AP) - He thinks he's smiling, but often he's not - the muscles in his face won't respond to signals from his brain and a man known for his cheerfulness ends up looking mean or exhausted. He can't stand without pain, and gets stiff sitting for long, too. It's tough to get his signature onto credit card slips. But 46-year-old Rep. Lane Evans can play basketball and, ever the politician, he is thankful he can still shake hands. The eight-term Democratic lawmaker from western Illinois disclosed last week that he has Parkinson's disease. He said in an interview, ``It isn't a disease I would wish on anybody, but at least at this point it's not that bad.'' While facing a tough re-election battle - he's near the top of the Republicans' target list for November - he is considering becoming something of a Parkinson's activist. ``I do believe in the right of privacy very strongly, but now that it's out there I'm going to be talking about it,'' he said. The neurodegenerative disorder affects one in about 200 Americans over 40, including Attorney General Janet Reno, former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali and evangelist Billy Graham. Two other congressmen, Republicans Joe Skeen of New Mexico and Joseph McDade of Pennsylvania, also have revealed they have Parkinson's. McDade is retiring. Parkinson's advocates are eager to enlist prominent people in their efforts to lobby for more money for research into the disease's causes and treatment. The government spends far more per patient studying diseases such as multiple sclerosis and AIDS than on Parkinson's, even though MS and AIDS strike fewer people, said Joan Samuelson, who heads the Parkinson's Action Network. ``We don't have that much clout,'' she said. Medication can mask Parkinson's tremors, stiffness, slurred speech and loss of balance for five to seven years. With patients afflicted young, like Evans, the drugs often work longer. However, once they stop working, the disease progresses into the biological opposite of Alzheimer's. While Alzheimer's destroys the mind but not the body, Parkinson's eventually renders its victims unable to move, swallow or speak while mental abilities stay intact. Evans' symptoms are mild, though complicated by longtime back problems. His arm trembles when he leans on it. He has to inch along the House floor to navigate narrow aisles. But he jogs two or three times a week. And medication has eased severe leg cramps. ``The misperception people have is that you're going to go downhill immediately,'' he said, shifting in his seat to counter discomfort. ``I've talked to so many people who've acted like this might be my last phone call.'' There are occasional reminders of what the future may hold. When Evans learned in 1995 that the reason he couldn't wave his left hand in a Labor Day parade was Parkinson's, he thought immediately of former Rep. Morris Udall. The one-time Democratic presidential candidate now lies disabled from Parkinson's in a Veterans Affairs nursing home in Washington. The powerful image remained with Evans after a tour of the facility. And telling his two young nieces, who along with their parents live with the lifelong bachelor in his Rock Island home, has been the hardest moment so far. Evans remains upbeat. ``I can take a lot,'' said the ex-Marine. ``But again I'm not the worse case. I'm not sure what I would do if it was worse.'' --part0_896225315_boundary--