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Hi--This was sent to me by a friend in UK << From the (UK) Daily Mail Tuesday July 27, 1999. The woman who may hold the key to Parkinson’s CATHERINE SMITH was horrified when she was diagnosed as having Parkinson's Disease at the age of 27. A first sign - some cramp in her foot a few years earlier had been followed by a more sinister symptom: a slight tremor, which had led almost inevitably to the diagnoses of the neurological condition. For Catherine, an analytical chemist from Sheffield, the diagnosis threatened to undermine everything she had always planned to do, including having a child. But 18 months later, despite worsening symptoms and against medical advice, Catherine gave birth to a healthy son, Martin, now six. Catherine is one of at least nine women in Britain who have given birth after a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. New research shows that pregnancy for such women is not only safe, it can ease the symptoms of their condition, possibly because of the hormonal changes in the body that are brought on by having a baby. The unique research also shows that they are at no greater risk of having complications in a pregnancy than fit, healthy women. There also appears to be a link between hormone levels and the severity of the symptoms of the disease, which will affect all female Parkinson’s sufferers. Hormone levels change during pregnancy, but they can also be boosted with HRT and that may ease the symptoms for many women. Researchers have found that falling oestrogen levels immediately prior to menstruation worsen the disease's symptoms. In one in five women surveyed by researcher Sheila Roy, the characteristic stiffness and tremor symptoms became worse as menstruation approached. But when the falling oestrogen levels were boosted via HRT treatment, the early indications are that there was a positive effect on the symptoms of Parkinson's. The hope is that the findings will lead to improvements in the care of women with the disease. 'The aim of the research is to explode of a lot of the negative myths about the disease and show women that a full life, including having children, is available after a diagnosis,' says Sheila Roy, who presented the findings to an international medical conference in Poland. The conference was told that doctors should have another look at the way they treat and assess sufferers and try to meet their needs, including giving more informed advice on pregnancy. PARKINSON'S disease is a neurological condition in which control of movement is lost to produce symptoms that can include shaking, muscle rigidity, balance problems and slowness of movement. There are a number of associated emotional problems, including depression. It is generally thought of as being solely an old age disease, yet World Health Organisation figures show one in ten adults is in the 40s or younger when diagnosed. In her research, Sheila Roy, who chairs a Parkinson's Disease Society advisory group, found little work had been carried out on women of child-bearing age with the disease. 'There is a lot of anecdotal evidence about younger women with Parkinson’s, but very little has been written,' she says. ‘Only 36 pregnancies have been reported in the world, yet the study I am doing has already identified nine women who have given birth after the start of the symptoms. WITH so little i nformation, doctors and nurses can't be blamed for being less than supportive of women wanting to plan a pregnancy. Yet, from the research I've done, the balance should be in favour of encouraging women with early Parkinson's who want a child to go-ahead.' Her research involves looking at 3,000 women in the UK with the disease, to assess the impact of female hormones on Parkinson’s. One in eight of the women in the project is under 40. Nine of the women have given birth, and all had healthy babies. The conference was told that those women believe other sufferers should be encouraged, rather than discouraged from having a baby. 'While the pregnancies among the group were not without their problems, all resulted in health babies,' says Sheila Roy. Catherine Smith was married but had no children when she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. 'In my early 20s I would get cramp in my foot, which is an early sign of Parkinson’s,' she says. 'Then I got a slight tremor when I was 26 and then, at 27, the diagnosis. which horrified me. After a few months of treatment, I suggested to the doctors that we would like to have a baby. But they were very cautious, saying we should delay and delay. 'But I was worried that the number of drugs I was taking would get bigger as the years went by and that they might have an effect on a pregnancy. So we decided to go ahead. 1 remember the haematologist was very surprised when he saw me so obviously pregnant. 'Everything went very smoothly with the delivery. The birth took a long time but that was because Martin didn't want to come out rather than anything to do with my condition. He is a normal, healthy boy who has started school. 'I take each day as it comes, but he shows that there really is life after a diagnosis of Parkinson's.' >> Barbara Blake-Krebs [log in to unmask]