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OCTOBER SYMPOSIUM WELL ATTENDED The Parkinson's Disease Symposium Moving Toward the Cure was held October 10 near Baltimore. There were about three hundred in attendance. Keynote speaker Paul Silverstein, M.D., of the University of Minnesota, was very encouraging about recent advancements in Parkinson's treatment. He was followed by exercise tips from Catherine MacRae, a multiple sclerosis patient herself, who produced the Gentle Fitness exercise video. Our Stephen Reich, M.D., of Johns Hopkins told us about newest surgical therapy. Mrs. Susan Imke, an R.N. and obviously a Texan, discussed adjustment to chronic disease. It was hilarious. Making a chronic disease funny for those who have one takes real skill, talent, and work. She had all three. My favorite was her simplified definition of idiopathic. Idiopathic means the doctors are idiots and the patients are pathetic. The highlight of the symposium was an unofficial announcement that there will be three Udall Parkinson's Disease Centers of Excellence. Each will be funded by the federal government with a million dollars per year for five years. The three Udall Centers of Excellence will be at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, and, of course, Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore. The federal grant is not yet official as the Omnibus Spending Bill has not been signed into law, but there is little chance that the spending bill will not become official in the very near future. Our lobbying is about to pay off! .