World Parkinson's Day is celebrated on April 11, in honor of the birthday of Dr. James Parkinson, the English physician who discovered and described the disease.
On this day, efforts are being made to increase public awareness of this terrible disease, to honor the hard and good work that world health organizations have done to eradicate the disease and to support Parkinson's patients and their families all over the world.
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One popular way to support awareness of this disease is to participate in marathons in cities around the world. The number of participating countries is expanding every year, including Australia, Uruguay, Mexico, Bolivia, the United States and other countries.
Dr. Parkinson first described the disease in his 1817 essay “An Essay on the Shaking Palsy” He described a pattern of reduced muscle strength, involuntary tremor, disturbances in balance, and instability in walking.
One of the most prominent symbols of Parkinson's disease is the red tulip, which was set on the 9th global anniversary of Parkinson's disease at the Luxembourg Conference. The story of the red tulip is linked to a Dutch horticulturalist named J.W.S. Van der Wereld, who was living with Parkinson’s and developed a new red and white variant of the tulip. He named his newly cultivated flower the Dr James Parkinson tulip in honour of the medico who first documented the features of Parkinson’s disease in his 1817 publication An Essay on the Shaking Palsy.
This colorful flower received the Excellence Award, from the Royal Horticultural Association of London.
What is Parkinson's disease? Parkinson's is a disorder that causes degeneration of the central nervous system, and directly affects the nerves that handle motor functions throughout the body. The disease is caused by a lack of the neurotransmitter dopamine, due to the degeneration of the group of black matter cells (Substania Nigra) in the brain. As the disease progresses, the organs' slowness and stiffness increase, involuntary tremors appear, speech becomes weak, monotonous and stuttering and eventually more and more motor functions are impaired. Patients also suffer from memory problems that worsen over time, although the ability to think logically is not impaired. In 80-50% of cases the disease begins with a tremor in one of the palms.
There is pharmacological treatment for Parkinson's disease that delays the development of the disease if it was discovered at the beginning, and treatments of conventional medicine that help reduce the symptoms. All schools of medicine (alternative and conventional) recommend exercise and keeping the brain as "active" as possible in daily life to prevent the development of the disease.
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Celebrities suffering from Parkinson's disease
Actor Michael J. Fox contracted Parkinson's in 1990. Fox is an avid follower of Parkinson's disease research and attempts to find a cure for it. To this end, Fox established the Michael J. Fox Foundation in 2000 to promote the finding of a cure for Parkinson's disease.
Professional cyclist and Olympic medalist Davis Phinney, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's at the young age of 40, founded the Davis Phinney Foundation in 2004 to support Parkinson's research, focusing on the quality of life of people with the disease.
Boxer Muhammad Ali showed signs of Parkinson's when he was 38, but was not diagnosed until the age of 42, and was called "the most famous Parkinson's patient in the world."
How to mark Parkinson's Day?
What can you do to help on this important day? As mentioned above there are many marathons and marches that take place in different countries to help raise funds for research into the disease. If you are in a place that has such a marathon, you can attend or set up a stall of refreshments, shirts or various items and donate the money to health organizations that are engaged in researching the disease. You can learn about the disease and share the information with as many people as possible, so that they know how important it is to detect the disease from the very beginning in order to delay its development.
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