Age is the greatest risk factor for Parkinson’s Disease, according to the Michael J. Fox Foundation. A caregiver herself and organizer of the Parkinson’s Support Group in Monmouth, Marcia Parrish explains the onset of being diagnosed with Parkinson’s can be tricky as symptoms begin years before:
“One of the first things to go in your sense of smell. Right now, they have a study going on and it is a smell test. They will send you things and you scratch them off; they give you three choices for you to tell them which one it is. Also, REM Sleep Disorder, that disorder is one where maybe people act out their dreams or they have night freights. Now that can be a symptom of other people who don’t have Parkinson’s, but they have found lots of people with Parkinson’s have REM Sleep Disorder. Other signs include small handwriting, lack of movement of the arm on the weak side; you start to notice it when your eyesight gets a little worse or when you start to shuffle or if you have a tremor. So, some of these things have already started years before you even get a diagnosis.”
For a third year, Marcia and her family hosted the Tom Parrish Memorial Golf Outing for Parkinson’s Disease to honor her late husband Tom and raise funds for research. This year, nearly $30,000 was collected, which will go directly to the Michael J. Fox Foundation to help find a cure.
