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Hi Wendy; In a message dated 1998/09/11 12:33:55, you write: << Funny, altho' looking back now, I know that my pd symptoms began at least two years before my formal diagnosis. If this ten year rule is true, then my pd actually did begin at the time of my severe reaction to Compazine, which was about 8-9 years prior to my diagnosis. >> I don't know if there is a 'ten year rule' as such, but I was told by my neuro at my diagnosis, in describing the death of cells in the substantia nigra, that the dopamine producing cells can be depleted by as much as 80 percent before symptoms start to be felt. [My reaction to this news was 'yikes'.] Since most of us have felt symptoms for years prior to diagnosis, a case could be made for an 'educated guess / estimate' of PD's onset at ten years before diagnosis in many cases. The statistics generally used give 57 as the median age of PD diagnosis. The key here, to me, is that 57 [for PD diagnosis] or 47 [for PD onset], whichever figure is used, is the median age [i.e. the average age ] of either event. Which can be interpreted to mean that fully half of all Parkies are under 47 at onset and under 57 at diagnosis. Which is quite a different picture from the Parkie stereotype. Which is another reason why I tell anyone and everyone about my PD every chance I get. Which is another way I make use of my symptoms. Janet 51/10 [log in to unmask]