Actress joins in plea to help halt ‘vicious thief’
URGENT action is needed to unlock promising research and help people with Parkinson’s in Wales, a charity is warning today.
Parkinson’s UK has launched an appeal to raise desperately needed funds for Parkinson’s research.
The charity says “a generation” of people with Parkinson’s in Wales face a future “knowing that their condition will never improve”.
No current medication is able to slow down or stop the spread of the condition, leaving those affected with severely limited treatment options. The main drug people with Parkinson’s rely on – levodopa – hasn’t changed in over 50 years.
Research released by the charity reveals that, despite being an incurable, degenerative condition which can affect anyone, in Wales:
More than two in five (45%) of people are unsure, or wrongly say, that it is possible to prevent Parkinson’s.
Three quarters (77%) are unsure, or incorrectly think that there is no limit to the amount of time Parkinson’s medication works.
Parkinson’s UK’s We Won’t Wait fundraising campaign aims to raise essential funds to drive crucial developments in research. An estimated 8,000 people live with the condition in Wales.
Actress Gerri Smith, who lives near Newport, appeared in the first Stars In Their Eyes programme as Vera Lynn and has been performing her tribute show all over the UK and Europe ever since.
Diagnosed with Parkinson’s nearly two years ago, she said: “Parkinson’s is not a killer, it is a vicious thief gradually stealing your ability to do things we take for granted.
“I love entertaining and I worry I will lose the ability to keep performing.”
Barbara Locke, director for Wales at Parkinson’s UK, said: “This is our first ever fundraising campaign. We’re urgently asking people in Wales to donate whatever they can.”