Step by step: living with Parkinson’s

Ten years ago, John Curtin, then 47, was working as a mechanical engineer in Cork, when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. His life was immediately turned upside down.

Yesterday, Curtin was a participant in World Parkinson’s Awareness Day, hosting, with his wife, a six-hour coffee morning at their home in Castlemartyr, offering advice and support to other sufferers and families.

“I think it is important that you learn to live with the disease. There is an active support system in the Parkinson’s Association of Ireland,” he says.

“It is good to talk to other sufferers. It certainly helps in understanding and learning to live with it,’’ he says.

“There is a lot of information out there, and I think it is important to absorb it and see how the disease can be managed, and help you maintain a certain standard of living.

“You need to have patience and accept that there will be times when you simply won’t be able to do the things you want or plan to do.’’ Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder that causes muscle tremors, stiffness and slowness of movement.

Parkinson’s disease is most common among older people, generally men.

The latest research shows that 17% of the Irish population are suffering from a neurological condition, most commonly Parkinson’s disease.

Not surprisingly, Curtin recalls the day he was diagnosed.

“I wasn’t very shocked, because the symptoms were starting to mount up and so I was almost expecting it, to a certain degree,’’ he says.

“My colleagues at work had started to comment upon my walk, I was almost shuffling along.

“Also, I had noticed that I wasn’t able to swim as far as I had been able to do before.’’

In the last ten years,

Curtin’s symptoms have slowly worsened. He has had to give up work, because working with equipment was not “compatible’’ with Parkinson’s disease. He now he has to take each day as it comes.

Some days, Curtin’s condition is “really good’’; on other days it can be “very restrictive’’.

“It has changed my life. Now, I don’t know whether I will be able to keep appointments, because, sometimes, my symptoms make it difficult to function. For example, when I started this interview, I immediately thought: ‘Will I have any symptoms which could cause problems?’ These things run through your mind,’’ he says.

Curtin praises his wife and two grown-up children for their support and patience, as they, too, come to terms with his disease. They accept plans are made on a day-by-day basis.

“They know that I might not be able to do what they want on a given day and that they have to work around that. They are very supportive,’’ he says.

Curtin is a member of the Cork branch of the Parkinson’s Association of Ireland — there are 15 other branches, each offering different local events to make friends, raise awareness and keep informed of medical advances.

Although there isn’t a cure for Parkinson’s disease, the symptoms can usually be managed. The medication replaces or enhances the effects of dopamine — the chemical messenger in the brain that controls movement — to minimise the tremors.

“I am on my fourth medication strategy and it has been very helpful. I have got good relief, at the moment, which is very satisfactory,’’ he says.

“I do try to keep active every day — I no longer swim, but I walk and do a bit of fishing, too. I am still very interested in sporting events. I want to maintain this standard of living.’’

* www.parkinsons.ie helpline 1800 359 359