symptoms of parkinsons disease : New Treatments Slow Onslaught of Symptoms

Joe Dulaney calls himself the Backward Man.

Although the tag is lighthearted, the awkward and dangerous dilemma he often faces as his lower limbs simply lock in mid-stride is not. At these moments, his body halts abruptly like a movie freeze-frame, and the only way he can walk is to step backward.

"I've gotten to where I can move pretty fast in reverse," says Illinois resident Dulaney, 65, whose finessed footwork helps him cope with one of many symptoms of Parkinson's disease.

Nationwide, as many as 1.5 million people suffer from Parkinson's, according to the Parkinson's Disease Foundation. A chronic and progressive disorder, Parkinson's strikes slightly more men than women and more whites than blacks in the United States. Though the disease is found most often in patients over 50, as many as 10 percent of patients--afflicted with the so-called "young-onset" Parkinson's--are under 40. About 50,000 Americans are diagnosed with Parkinson's yearly, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, which estimates that the total cost of health care for Parkinson's patients will exceed $5.6 billion this year.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved nearly a dozen drugs for treating Parkinson's, three of which have been put on the market just in the past year. Also approved in 1997 was a device that is surgically implanted in the brain to lessen the violent shaking experienced by some Parkinson's patients. The 1996 discovery of a gene believed responsible for a form of Parkinson's may result in future innovative treatments. Despite the range of therapies available to ease the disease's debilitating symptoms, however, treatments now on the market can neither replace the faulty nerve cells that cause the disease nor stop Parkinson's from progressing.

Numerous public figures have acknowledged their battle with Parkinson's. Attorney General Janet Reno, evangelist Billy Graham, former boxer Muhammad Ali, and former Alabama governor George Wallace all are fighting the disease. Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping was in the late stages of Parkinson's when he died last year at age 92.

Parkinson's also gained attention last year with passage of the Morris K. Udall Parkinson's Research Act, which authorized $100 million for Parkinson's research. At press time, the funds had not yet been appropriated. Udall, who has Parkinson's, served in the House of Representatives for 30 years.

by John Henkel