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Whilst 7 million PWP world wide is an obvious error, the figure of 160,000,000 (one hundred and sixty million) PWP(2% of the worlds 8 billion) is so mind numbing as to be almost meaningless. But it hardly matters how many of us there are if the general perception is that what ails us is not REALLY SERIOUS. It is my belief that whilst the average person in the street has no idea what it is like to suffer from PD, they think they do. They think we ""shake a little". And what does it matter to the world at large if 7,000,000 or 160,000,000 people "shake a little''. I believe that we have to change that perception of PD. We have to tell them what it means "to shake a little", and then we have to tell them what it means to shake a lot. And while they are still digesting that we have to hit them with what rigidity, bradykinesia, dystonia, and dyskinesia ACTUALLY do to us. We should be talking about a disease so terrible that people are prepared to undergo brain surgery while awake to escape some of its complications. We should be talking about the need to find treatments that help us without potentially twisting us like pretzels or driving us into a world of hallucinations. And above all, those of us with public voices need to be looking for the words to say these things without sounding sorry for ourselves. If we do it right, we just might make finding the cure for PD part of society's agenda, And it doesn't matter how softly we speak. If we say it often enough, and if we tell it like it is, we will be heard. Dennis. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dennis Greene 48/onset 32 /dx 37 "It is better to be a crystal and be broken, Than to be a perfect tile upon the housetop." [log in to unmask] http://members.networx.net.au/~dennisg/ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++