UNDERSTANDING PARKINSON’S SEMINAR TO HELP SUFFERERS MANAGE MACARTHUR region residents living with Parkinson’s disease can learn more about managing the condition on September 26 at Campbelltown Catholic Club. 10.30am - 12.30pm Free entry. The Macarthur Parkinson’s Support Group will host an information session, which will give residents advice on managing falls. The meeting will also feature a talk from University of Sydney physiotherapist Dr Natalie Allen. The first half of the meeting will cover general information about falls and the second half will focus on falls prevention for people living with Parkinson’s. Dr Allen said managing falls was important for Parkinson’s sufferers. “We know that sufferers are nine times more likely to fall as opposed to healthy people of the same age,” she said. “There is interesting work coming from a number of places, including my team here at the University of Sydney, where we’ve been able to reduce the frequency of falls of people with mild Parkinson’s through a range of exercise.” Support group member Neil Sligar said the meeting would be informative. “It’s estimated that there are at least 70,000 Australians who’ve been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease,” he said. “It’s a devastating condition for which not only is there no cure, but its cause is unknown and medication taken for it reduces symptoms but does not retard its progress.” Mr Sligar said Parkinson’s was one of the most difficult conditions to diagnose and treat. “It has been called a designer disease because individual symptoms differ between each person,’’ he said. “There’s no blood or urine test, no electroencephalogram reading, no commonly available brain scan that will detect it. Diagnosis is by observation of one’s characteristics, particularly the presence of any two of four features, including tremor, rigidity, slowness of movement and a tendency to fall.” Mr Sligar encouraged residents to attend the meeting from 10.30am to 12.30pm. For information call John Philpott on4620 5848 or Neil Sligar on 9820 9133
Posted on: Wed, 11 Sep 2013 06:31:32 +0000