Hope - A person or thing in which we place our expectation.

For those of you who may have missed it, the Michale J. Fox Foundation sent this to their email list - yesterday, I think.

Just in time for Parkinson's Awareness Month, news breaks that a drug that could stop or slow Parkinson’s disease (PD) is advancing in clinical testing.

The drug isradipine is proceeding to Phase III testing, the last step before regulatory approval. With a $23 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, researchers will test if isradipine has an effect on PD progression. Previous studies funded by The Michael J. Fox Foundation showed drugs in the same class, calcium channel blockers, were associated with lower incidence of PD. When recruitment for this study begins later this year, it will be the most advanced, current trial of a disease-modifying therapy for PD

I don't know if it is reasonable to have hope that this new drug will solve my problems. I think it is better expect a bad outcome rather than hope for a good one. That way I cannot be disappointed, I like the way I view my situation now - PD? No big deal. Drugs are keeping me normal (with a few exceptions) and I will probably die before PD takes over completely and if, by some miracle, a "cure" is found, I shall rejoice with the rest of the PwP. Until then I can laugh at my problems, not because I find them to be funny, but because laughter is an opiate.