By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

MANY countries around the world, including the Bahamas, are celebrating Parkinson’s Disease Awareness Month in April. The local Kingdor National Parkinson Foundation held its annual Gala Ball on Saturday, in honour of their efforts to raise awareness and provide support for those with the illness.

“I keep saying to people that when we think about any organisation or establishment it is good to have a function to say to the public that this is where we are and this is what is happening. It is really a time to give the populace feedback on what is going on. So we have the Gala Ball as a way to sensitise because during this time we have more calls with persons looking for information and asking (about donations),” said founder and chairperson of the foundation Mavis Darling-Hill.

The foundation recently held “Movement Day”, which encouraged Bahamians to stay active and keep moving, whether through walking, running, swimming or engaging in another form of exercise.

Ms Darling-Hill said statistics are not readily available on the number of Bahamian affected by Parkinson’s Disease.

“We have on several occasions attempted to get a survey going in order to get as good as possible information relative to the number of persons who are affected and afflicted by the disease. We do know that it is prevalent in the Bahamas and if you look at any international information relative to any disease, you will learn that about 8 percent of any population is afflicted by a particular disease,” said Ms Darling-Hill.

She said there are a lot of people walking around, not aware of what is going on with their bodies. “When anything feels out of the ordinary with your body, you should go and check your doctor. The problem is, a lot of people do not like to go to their doctors, and you cannot do that because you really need to get another opinion apart from yours,” she said.

For Ms Darling-Hill, the illness is very close to her, as her father was diagnosed with the disease at age 66. She said there is no known cure for Parkinson’s Disease, and it is a debilitating disease that affects the nervous system.

“Regardless of what you do, it is not going to go away. It is progressive and it will be with you for the rest of your life,” she said.

“We encourage people to continue their regular movements because some people feel that once they are sick, they decide that they are going to stay indoors, stay still and fade away. We are saying no to that, and yes to getting involved in activities. If you really take full responsibility of your exercise, it will slow down the progressive illness, but not take it away,” said Ms Darling-Hill.

When asked if Parkinson’s can be prevented, Ms Darling-Hill said: “Eating and sleeping well is good and that will slow it down but only God knows how to prevent something. You just pray that you are doing the right things. Trust in God and keep your family close, and if you are doing all of those things your life can be very healthy.”

One of the main signs of Parkinson’s Disease is the beginning stage where individuals experience tremors, which is the shaking of the left and right hand side of the body.

“More than 80 per cent of persons who were actually diagnosed, they usually say the tremors came first. And then of course there’s the slowness of movement and also the stiffness. Their body becomes stiff and there’s a difficulty when they walk. There is also hallucinations. Thank God my father didn’t get to that stage but that is a very real stage,” said Ms Darling-Hill.

For more information on the disease, visit the organisation at Facebook.com/Kingdor Parkinson.