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. The >emotional/mental strain of Parkinson's far outweighs that >of diabetes. You can go by the chart we originally referred to to see >the costs per case (huge difference). The disease andthe drugs taken >with PD change your personality, stability, not just your physical >.health. That's a cost you can't measure in $. How many marriages >end due to diabetes, far fewer than that of PD I'm sure. >The treatment for diabetes is standard, for PD each case presents an >entirely different problem. With advanced diabetes you can still look >and act normally. Rarely, will you find this with PD. >I'd like to point as well that pwpd also have heart attacks/strokes, >cancer, and diabetes as well as blindness, liver failure, >+major depression. Bill, we're talking apples and oranges here. You're discussing late on-set diabetes which, admittedly, is not as severe a disaese as PD. But juvenile diabetes carries a terrible toll. The victims are *much* younger at onset, suffer very great physical disability at a very young age, and die young. Do these folks suffer divorce because of their disease? Of course. Do they become emotionally and physically debilitated? Ask the 30 and 40 year olds who have suffered strokes because of diabetes. Can they functional normally without standing out in a crowd because of their disease? Depends on if you think missing a couple of extremeties because of inadequate circulation is normal. >No offense, but I have encountered a number of nurses, even in >neurological units who are completely untrained in dealing with >Parkinson's and are unaware of ypwp. Also, I note that you're >a caregiver, ask your husband what he thinks.(no offense >intended) > At 29 as now, I would be delighted to have the choice. > Respectfully, Bill Harrington You're correct. I haven't come across many ypwp because they don't get hospitalized unless they have another clinical diagnosis. Because of the complexities of dealing with med on/off times and the complications that ensue, I don't think very many nurses are equipped to adequately deal with PD. It is a very limited and unique specialty - speaking strictly from a hospitalization POV. As to which is worse - Diabetes or PD, the discussion is irrelevant. I was speaking from a 'funding' perspective, and feel that Diabetes is the more clinically severe disease. Blindness, kidney failure, heart disease and stroke are **common** complications at a very early age, and therefore these patients cost more money to treat and maintain. More research dollars should be spent to explore the causes and cure for this horrible disease. ----- Mary Ann