Keeping the Women we Love Healthy

Back in November, The Doris A. Howell Foundation hosted a panel of experts that discussed the latest research , alternative treatment and caring for a Parkinson's disease patient.  We learned about the efforts from the Parkinson's Association to raise funds to continue financing and advancing Parkinson's Disease research.    According to the Parkinson's Disease Association and the National Parkinson Foundation:   Parkinson's Disease is the second-most common neurodegenerative disorder in the United States (Alzheimer's being the number one). 60,000 Americans are diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease every year; that is 6 cases per hour, 164 cases per day.  1.6% of people over 65 will be diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. The economic burden of Parkinson's Disease is estimated to be around $14.4 billion a year in the US, and is expected to double by 2040.  But how are women affected by the disease?  According to a study published in t...

After hearing about all the encouraging news on the progress being made on the research and funding of Parkinson's disease, we are still left with perhaps the most important part of the equation:  The caregiver's perspective on dealing with the challenges of a patient diagnosed with the illness.  Treatment needs to be addressed from two flanks:  The clinical/patient side, and the caregiver side.  From a caregiver’s perspective, there is a pre-Parkinson’s and a post-Parkinson’s life.    A partner who is the healthy one in the marriage --that rarely takes medications, a lover of sports that makes marathon-running a second career; a lover of education with two Master’s degrees, a good dresser and more importantly, a charming and positive thinker with a great outlook of life-- can suddenly become a statistic in the number of patients diagnosed with Parkinson’s.  This is just a brief, loving summary of how Goldie Sinegal described her...