The Buffalo News used a Reuters article, which ended with a quote by
Dr. Allan Ropper of Boston's St. Elizabeth Medical Center..."Ropper said
Fox is in the 'late mild' stage of Parkinson's and that he is hopeeful
the actor will be functional for at least another 10 years, and maybe
into old age. But he would not rule out the worst, including Fox having
to quit his work or possibly undergo further brain surgery." At least
this article did present some of the realities of PD.
As for CNN, they added a new site, "New Treatments, But No Cure
Available for Parkinson's Disease." As of this morning it was at:
cnn.com/HEALTH/9811/25/parkinson.explainer/ - in which they state "the
government estimates that as many as 10% of cases are in people under
40." They also make it clear that there have been advances in treatment,
but that these are not a cure. The story ends with "but until there is a
cure, it is likely the disease will continue to progress." Now if they
would just take this one step further, and also report on the research
funding issues! And they still have the link to the Mayo Clinic site
announcing Tasmar, as a "promising new drug." As Barb stated there is so
much misinformation and outdated information on the Web, given the fact
that there is no control over what goes on it, and very little editing of
the existing sites, but one would hope that organizations like CNN
would check the accuracy and timeliness of the sites they provide links
to.
We could write individually to our local papers and to the news
organizations, and this is probably a good time to do so. However, it
would be very effective if as Bob Dolezal suggested, there was a unified,
official response from our PD organizations, at this time as well. Maybe
it is coming?
Happy day- after-Thanksgiving to all.
Linda Herman
