YP Letters: Help find breakthrough to cure Parkinson's

THANKS to research and modern technology, we live in an era when medical breakthroughs are producing results that truly transform people’s lives. But it’s shocking that the foremost drug that people with Parkinson’s rely on, those like my brother-in-law Gordon Scarfe, has not changed in over 50 years.

According to new findings from Parkinson’s UK, released to highlight this month’s Parkinson’s Awareness Week, misunderstanding about Parkinson’s is still widespread, and it’s time to create greater awareness that it causes so much more than just a tremor. We need to drive forward research: the science is ready and we have the know-how.

This year is the 200th anniversary of the condition being described by Dr James Parkinson, and Parkinson’s UK has launched its first ever public fundraising appeal, We Won’t Wait, to raise the funds urgently needed to tackle the condition head on. It will be too late for my beloved brother-in-law, but I would love to see a medical breakthrough for Parkinson’s during my lifetime, and I hope that your readers will join me in donating to We Won’t Wait.

To find out more about the We Won’t Wait campaign and to donate, please visit wewontwait.parkinsons.org.uk