Downhill skiing

I don't presume to have a lot of regular readers and probably fewer still will have followed me from the beginning. Which is why I would not assume that anyone remembers at what age I had my first PD symptoms. However, for some strange reason they coincided in a slightly alarming way with the first time I was trying downhill skiing. I was in my early teens and for some reason, my parents had decided that the family would spend Christmas in the Swedish "alps", having a wonderful time skiing together.

I can tell you that trying to sort two pieces of wood the same height as myself attached to me feet, while in any kind of controlled manner descending a steep hill covered in snow and ice is difficult enough without adding the complication that a declining balance, difficulty shifting the body left and right and a tendency for my body to not comply to motoric instructions, especially under stress, that my first experience with PD threw at me. I honestly believe that no-one has a higher falling-to-standing ratio in a ski slope than me. The good thing was that I quickly developed my skills in reassuming a standing position, even from the most awkward falls and of course the strange fact that I didn't break any bones in my body.
I was by my friends fondly nicknamed "the human bowling ball" and I can, even now over 25 years later, easily see the inner picture of myself going down a slope with the victims of my skiing-disabilities falling right and left.

This trip down memory lane was actually brought on by a trip to a bowling alley I did in January. It was the family's annual bowling tournament to celebrate our mother's birthday and this year her offspring treated her to a few days skiing together with all of us. At  the time, the skiing adventure seemed reassuringly distant, but as time went by, the distance diminished to the point that departure is tomorrow. So I would like to issue a warning to all those planning a peaceful day in the slopes of Dalarna these coming few days: beware of human bowling balls....

Actually, the truth is that medications and training at the gym has provided me with both the balance, muscle strength and control enough to enable me to descend a ski slope in a more greceful manner and my falling-standing ratio these days might even be below 1. So I am looking forward to a few days of family quality time with my own small family with extensions summing up to 7 adults and 5 children ages ranging from 2 months to 8 years. Mind you, I didn't say quiet family quality time....

What is it with PD and 1971?????????

What on earth happened in 1971 that made PD run wild???

I started thinking when seeing Bryn's pic of him in his much becoming Tigger-suit (alledgedly a birthday present, but we don't believe that, do we....?), taking it easy after his ordeal of entering into the "naughty forties" (I do hope that is not an unappropriate expression in English... if so, I am going after the Brit who wished me welcome into them a few weeks ago... you know who you are...). 

The thought I had was not at all related to Winnie the Pooh or even me realising that I will never see the stories of Christopher Robin and friends in the same way again, but more to do with PD.

In my mind I went through my PD-network of friends and a surprisingly large number of them are in their early 40's or slightly younger... I had the good fortune of celebrating my entrance into the lovely age of 40 together with a whole bunch of my wonderful friends a few weeks ago and I know that several others of the PD friends I know from the World Parkinson's Congress in Glasgow last September-October and from other places will join me and Bryn soon.

I had a talk on the subject with Alex (Flynn) and we were wondering whether the world went crazy in the early 70s? Maybe this is a premonition of something? Does anyone know of any large demographic studies that would be relevant?