Fear - such an unpleasant emotion

It is not fear of the unknown that challenges us; rather it is fear of the known when you might be standing in its shadow. I am guessing not everybody reading this has PD. A few you may not be part of that club. Others may be uncertain about parkinson-like symptoms - e.g. - do I have PD? - while others may be looking for causes of PD so they can avoid the condition.

Well there is good news and bad news. The good news is that chances are you will never be subsumed by that shadow. Relatively speaking, very few people have the bad luck to become intricately acquainted with our feckless passenger. The bad news is, as you and the rest of the population ages, your chances of falling victim to some kind of degenerative brain disease increases. So you are almost immune but not so much.

What caused my PD? Who knows, I had some vicious blows to the head playing hockey and flag football (it is supposed to be a safe form of the game, but with no helmet or pads, you are asking for damage).

Nobody has a definitive answer to the question, just what is it that causes PD?

However some inroads have been made.

• Head trauma - some studies show that people who have suffered head trauma are 4x more at risk for PD than people who have never had a head injury
• If your head injury is serious enough to require hospitalization and/or you lose consciousness, the probability you will become a victim increases to around 10x compared to the lucky majority without PD.
• Heredity - both my parents had parkinson-type tremors in their old age. Does that mean my siblings have PD in their future? Probably not. Studies have found that heredity plays a role in only a few cases where the presence PD can be traced though several generations.
• There is an iota of evidence that dealing with toxic substances may be a factor.
• Finally, there is a link between PD and aging. The older you get, the better the chance you will develop the condition. But what about Michael J. Fox and other early onset cases? Are they simply outliers, unlucky patrons of a disease of the aging? Who knows.

So, did that help?

If you cant see yourself in this list, you probably no longer need fear the unknown, but it wouldn't hurt to be a little nervous.

Consider these statistics

• Between 6 -7 million of the world's population have PD.
• Approximately 100,000 Canadians and 1,500,000 Americans have the condition
• 60 is the average age of onset.
• You have a .1% chance of developing PD,
• which rises to 1% over age 65>
• and 2% over 80
• both genders and all ethnic groups have the same chances of joining our tribe

You have to be pretty unlucky to become a member of this exclusive club, but if you are still afraid, try whistling by the graveyard. Might not help, but can't hurt.