The faces of Parkinson’s disease. Top: Jacqueline Vera Brown, Scott Klempan, Evelyn Simon, Bottom: David Eger, Alyssa Johnson, Scott Giffney. (Photo credits: Allison Smith, Alex di Suvero, Peter daSilva, Fred Conrad and Steven Kagan.) For many people, our only experience with Parkinson’s disease is that of watching actor Michael J. Fox struggle publicly with the illness as he has campaigned for more research and funding.
But as my colleague Karen Barrow notes in the latest “Patient Voices” feature, there are many less-famous faces of Parkinson’s.
Parkinson’s disease is a neurologic disorder that occurs as a result of the death of nerve cells in the brain that produce dopamine. The loss of dopamine production in the brain can lead to tremors, balance problems, stiff facial expressions and muffled speech, among other things.
In the United States, an estimated 1 million people have the disease, and another 60,000 are diagnosed each year. Although the condition usually develops after the age of 60, 15 percent of those diagnosed are under 50.
One of those is runner Alyssa Johnson, 43, who was training for the Boston Marathon in 2003 when she started dragging her leg and developed a shin cramp. After searching for answers, she was finally diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
“It’s not something you’d expect with someone my age,” she said. “I used to run with my husband all the time. We don’t run together anymore because it’s still too hard for me emotionally. He’s still competitive, and I’m still trying to get from point A to point B.”
But there are good moments, she notes. “Occasionally when I’m running I’ll come to a long downhill, and my legs work the way they used to work and my arm swings the way it used to. It’s like running before Parkinson’s, and that’s the best feeling.”
