It' s a pretty horrible disease. At about the time I was diagnosed with
PD back in early '95 a fellow employee of the Resolution Trust Corporation
where I worked got a diagnosis of ALS. Within 6 months he was in a
wheelchair; he was told he had 5 years to live and they would be hell. And
there is not supposed to be any dementia; they are alert right to the end.
It's rare, though. There are currently something on the order of 30,000
victims in the US. (Don't ping me on my #'s - this is all from memory, which
ain't what it used to be.)
It sure would be nice if whatever results come out of the research
funded by Udall would benefit sufferers of other neurological diseases as
well!
