Laura, and Tena, you so make me smile!

I am a hopeless caffeine addict, but never drank coffee.

I've had plenty of turmeric, regularly, due to my south asian heritage.

I smoked like a trooper for 15 years, about ten years ago, have clear lungs and a pd head, actually I've never felt better for giving up!

I inherited two conditions from my grandmother, PD and vitiligo, she had a third. ulcerated legs, aarrghh, I am hoping to pass on that one.

Genetic compromise it is for me too......... though long-term exposure to ddt and consumption of annonaceous fruit flit through my mind too.

I lived for years on an organic wholefood vegetarian diet, we were the healthy clean living family, trying to get everything right!

None of these things has made any difference to PD, I neither feel better nor worse for stopping, starting, the medications only mask the slow path of pd, it is never not there.

Other significances - a traumatic C section, only just survived it, did it trigger PD? Menopause perhaps, maybe accelerated it. Light, sleep, and inflammation? Possibly.

But the rest? Everything, including the kitchen sink, has been thrown into the causes and conditions that trigger/prevent.......... you just have to be sceptical of nearly everything when the hungry gods of our world are trying it on! Especially like now when they seem to be showing their fangs....

Ibuprofen does a mean job of stopping pain. I wouldn't take it regularly though, long term stomach damage won't help us absorb our levodopa, or anything else........

Lindy