I
am scared to death of developing Parkinson's Disease. And the reason is
pretty ridiculous, I admit. I resemble no one in my family but my
paternal grandmother Ruth, whose middle name I also share. We have had the same hands, the same feet and recently my aunt gave me a
picture of Grandma Ruth in her 20's. She could be my twin. In her 50's
she developed the degenerative neurological disease and by the time I
was old enough to communicate, it was full blown. She was shaky, her
tongue was always hanging out of her mouth, her speech was slurred and
slow. For a while, I was actually sort-of afraid of her. So,
regretfully, I never really got to know one of my grandmothers. It was
only last year that I learned she was an English teacher (I knew she
taught history, but not that she also taught English; this explains why
my dad had me quoting Shakespeare at the age of three). And as much as
my dad tells me he thinks the factors leading to her Parkinson's were
environmental, and no genetic link has been proven, I still worry that
someday, I will be shaky Grandma Emily, unable to communicate with my
grandchildren.
A new study at least makes me feel a little better about all of this.
Research out of Beth Israel Medical Center in New York found that
longer exposure to the body's own hormones, including estrogen, may
help protect the brain cells that affected by Parkinson's.
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