Wendy R. Lewis, MNPL, Executive Director, and Scott Larson, Board Member and living with Parkinson’s discussed the Parkinson Council, the premier local organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for people with Parkinson’s, care partners, and families in the Delaware Valley region, and their upcoming event, STAMP OUT PARKINSON’S on October 17th. We began with a discussion about Parkinson’s, a disease often misdiagnosed. The initial symptoms are often written off as a natural part of aging, but it is actually the result of a deficiency of dopamine, the reasons unknown, although it is most often diagnosed in white older men, a group more likely to have consistent medical oversight. Scott, who believes it to be hereditary because of his mother’s diagnosis, described his own difficulty in getting a diagnosis, a common problem. We spoke about the programs offered by the council, peer groups, innovative exercise classes and research grants. Both emphasized that their peers and clients were ‘living’ with Parkinson’s, and spoke of the programs offered locally by the council.
www.theparkinsoncouncil.org