Peg - I never answered your inquiry about the Hope Conference in Seattle. It was on November 7 and it was outstanding!

Bill Langston was the keynote speaker - he is always extremely informative and entertaining. Plus, he is one of the great PD research visionaries. He is very high on the research surrounding using skin cells to make pluripotent stem cells; he also thinks that alpha synuclein and protein kinase c are very important, as well as the continued study of genetic links within the PD population (he was very enthusiastic about 23andMe).

But while extremely hopeful about eventually figuring all this stuff out, he cautioned we are looking a long way down the road - 10 to 20 years.

That's why I was glad the conference also featured a young naturopathic doctor from Seattle who focuses exclusively on PD and other neurological illness. Her name is Laurie Mischley (http://www.seattleintegrativemedicin...iemichley.html), and she has just written a book called "Natural Therapies for Parkinson's Disease."

She was mentored by my doctor at the Booth Gardner Center; Seattle is becoming the leading center, I believe, for integrative medicine and care for PD.

Let's face it folks - all we have today, thanks to medical research, is a variety of pharmaceuticals or surgical procedures that manage or mask symptoms. And the researchers tell us we have a long wait for more than that.

Nobody, but nobody is trying to slow down the medical research or divert funds from these important endeavors. But in the meantime, shouldn't we be promoting those things that make us healthier, stress free, mentally clear, and functional as possible? After all, at this point in time, it's all about symptom management and quality of life.