Thank you to court club for programs for Parkinson’s Disease

I want to thank Tri-City Court Club for starting free exercise programs for people with Parkinson’s Disease.

I would also like to thank Ms. Schilling for reporting on this in the Herald. I noticed that there was a misstatement in the article, though, that really needs to be corrected. Parkinson’s Disease is NOT a nervous disorder. Parkinson’s Disease is a neuro-degenerative disease that has no cure. Some of the symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease can appear as a nervous disorder, but that is because the body has quit producing 60 to 80 percent of the dopamine that a normal person has.

Much research has been done and even more is needed to find a cure for this horrific disease. It robs the sufferer of simple things like being able to express emotion with the face, as some people develop “masking,” basically an inability to move the muscles of the face. Maybe they shuffle in the walk because they no longer have the flexibility to move their legs correctly.

This disease robs a person and family of life, as they both get to watch and do nothing about it, except exercise and take medications.

West Richland

This story was originally published November 16, 2015 at 5:39 PM with the headline "Thank you to court club for programs for Parkinson’s Disease."