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Yes Dennis, I agree with you I think we visualise "THE CURE' as a messianic age, where peace will reign supreme and i wont have to take any more pills - or spills - or contemplate a hole in the head i like the picture of the lion and the lamb and swords into ploughshares (and scalpels into nail files?) And that is why i am so adamant not only must research be directed to some pallliative care, and stopgap solution, but we have to care about the well being of the PWPs We are building up a generation of PWPs who've had this thing for 20 years and more - who cannot work, maybe their marriages have failed - it happens in many cases and with PD thrown in for good measure - they have no insurance,their houses fall victim to foreclosure because the mortgage was not paid oh all those many things i keep on listing i guess you could call these the tertiary symptoms of parkinson's disease - and as was pointed out by Dr Chris van der Linden these problems are not unique to the U>S> i'm sure you have them in your part of the world too. Where are these people going to live - who is going to take care of them when they can no longer take care of themselves and who is going to pay for their medical care. And when (blast of trumpets) the CURE comes - will they be able to get it? or will it be available only to those who can afford it as the tendency is with surgery today. Solving these problems costs money too. finding the cure - it has a sense of a noble quest or maybe the scent of alchemy the philosopher's stone that will magically cure this disease - overnight. I dont think that facing the facts of life is pessimism its a recognition of facts, and of a situation that should not exist, and of the need to alleviate it. I could go on for hours with more of the same (my family will bear winess to that) BUt I think I've made my point That we need help now, until the cure comes, Amde that is as important as the cure itself HIlary Blue Dennis Greene wrote: > > I have noticed a tendency of late to treat some far from certain things > about the cure as if they were articles of faith. These include: > > - The cure is coming soon > > - The cure will be found . > > - the cure will benefit everyone > > - the cure should be the paramount consideration of the PD community > > - time is running out - we must have the cure now > > - And finally (the one I shall no doubt run foul of) - anyone who disputes > any of these is thinking negatively. > > I have no wish to start an argument but I would love to start an exploration > of these statements in the hope that should we find in practice that any of > them is not in fact true we will be better prepared to deal with that > reality. To this end I offer the following thoughts. > > ## The cure is coming soon: > > Of course it depends on how you define 'soon' but I see the following as > indicators that the cure is still some years away. > > * they are still at the basic research stage with the most lines of > investigation - no-one has yet got past the 'this looks very promising' > stage. As the lead time from E Day (Eureka Day) to C Day (Cured Day) is > anything from 5 to 10 years we have that period of time still in front of us > AS A MINIMUM. It could well be very much longer. > > * I would suggest that the medical establishment anticipates that the > cure will be some while yet. A strong indicator of this is the > proliferation of centres performing PD surgery and the numbers of doctors > learning the techniques. You don't invest that much time money and > infrastructure unless you anticipate a return on your investment over a > reasonable period. > > ## The cure will be found > > Again it depends on exactly how you define cure. If we are talking about > eradicating a disease so that it no longer exists then we are really going > up against the odds. I tried to think of how many and which diseases > medical science had eradicated and there aren't many - and most of those > were > 'cured' by preventing people getting them in the first place. If the 'cure' > for Pd falls into that category it will only occur after they find the cause > and wonderful as that will be it won't be of much help to those of us > already > afflicted. As any cure of this nature is only likely to occur after a cause > has been found I would think it is a long way off yet. > > Any cure which will benefit those of us who already have PD will, by > definition, be one that cures the individual but does not remove PD from the > earth. Which means that the often expressed wish - for the day to come when > we are cured and PD is no more - is meaningless unless we are talking about > two different days and two different cures. > > ## The cure will benefit everyone > > This, as already discussed, will depend on what form it takes. A > preventative helps only those who don't yet have PD, an inhibitor is better > for those in the early stages than for those in the later, and so on. > > ## the cure should be the paramount consideration of the PD community > > I believe that it is far from certain that the cure is imminent and also > that we do not know that it will be of equal benefit to all of us. > Consequently I believe that research into managing the disease should have > at least equal priority. This type of research has the added advantage that > benefits flow from it continually as opposed to us all waiting on a cure > that will be some years yet and may be a great many years yet. > > ## time is running out - we must have the cure now > > I too would like to see a cure in my lifetime (preferably one I can benefit > from), but I have never quite worked out why so may of us seem to think that > it MUST happen in time to save THIS generation - what's so special about us? > > ## anyone who disputes any of these is thinking negatively. > > It is not negative to see things as they are. > > A positive attitude which exists by ignoring the realities is really denial > > Dennis. > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > Dennis Greene 49/dx 37/ onset 32 > There's nothing wrong with me that a cure for PD won't fix! > email - [log in to unmask] > Website - http://members.networx.net.au/~dennisg/ > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++