The Cure Parkinson's Trust: Research Update Meeting

[CPT_Helen]

You can watch all the presentations from this recent meeting including presentations from Professor Roger Barker, Dr Mariah Lelos and co-founder of The Cure Parkinson's Trust, Tom Isaacs.

Click through to view here: bit.ly/1S5T90q

[JohnPepper]

Hi Everybody. I am all in favour of finding that elusive cure, but while we are spending millions of dollars on this project, why don't we take a small portion of that money to do more studies on various forms of exercise that are known to be capable of reducing the symptoms of Pd, like fast walking? 

I constantly hear  the question, "What studies have been done on Fast Walking" and I can only respond with the study announced by Dr Beth Fisher at the 1st World Parkinson's Congress held in Washington DC in 2006, 10 years ago. I have seen nothing since then. Do we need to have more studies on the effect of exercise on Pd?

Dr Fisher's study was very thorough and quite conclusive but it does not appear to have had any affect on the way neurologists advise their patiennts about exercise.

Is being able to reduce the severity of movement symptoms not a worthwhile project to spend money on? The fact that it does not result in more medication have any influence on decision-making in this regard?

I know that patients getting better is not neccessarily good for the neurologists or the drug companies, but it is very desirable for the patients, is it not?

John