The Central Coast Parkinson’s Support Group will mark World Parkinson’s Day and Month on April 11 with an information booth in the foyer of Gosford Hospital.
Plain language information will be available on Parkinson’s disease and where to find support if you are living with Parkinson’s or caring for a loved one with the disease.
It is estimated that there are more than 660 people living with Parkinson’s in the Central Coast area, however, the Parkinson’s community is much larger than that if you factor in carers and family members of people with Parkinson’s.
That means more than 1,300 people are affected by Parkinson’s in some way in our region alone.
Parkinson’s is a progressive, degenerative condition of the central nervous system.
Neurological diseases are the world’s greatest contributor to disability – and Parkinson’s is the most prevalent neurological condition.
It has no cure.
There are currently more than 200,000 people living with the disease in Australia, including more than 69,000 people in NSW.
By 2040, the number of people living with Parkinson’s in Australia is expected to double.
Parkinson’s is more prevalent than breast, prostate, and bowel cancer combined, yet it receives far less government funding than those diseases.
With more than 50 symptoms, Parkinson’s is complex, misunderstood and in some cases misdiagnosed.
Men are twice as likely to be diagnosed with Parkinson’s than women.
Common Parkinson’s symptoms include shaking and tremors, rigid and stiff muscles, slowness of movement and a frozen facial expression.
Non-motor symptoms include anxiety, fatigue, pain, sleep problems, depression, eating and swallowing difficulties and more.
Loss of smell and small handwriting may be an early sign of Parkinson’s.
Source:
Media release, Mar 28
Parkinson’s NSW