Wilfrid Laurier Parkinsons funding thrown a curve

Ten years ago, retired teacher Don Woodley was reluctant to eat at restaurants for fear of spilling things. His hands would shake and it was hard to hold utensils or a cup. When it came to writing, for him to scrawl anything legible, the 77-year-old would need to use his left hand to steady his right. Even walking was sometimes a struggle.

His Parkinsons disease was taking a toll and he was anxious to find a solution so he turned to Dr. Quincy Almeida and the Movement Disorders Research and Rehabilitation Centre at Wilfrid Laurier University. Within months, Woodley was confident enough to eat out, his handwriting was no longer shaky and he was running on a treadmill with assistance. His diagnosis changed from Parkinsons disease to a cousin ailment essential tremor.

But that progress is being threatened by the university, say Woodley and Parkinsons sufferers who claim the school has redistributed some funding for their treatment, and access Parkinsons researchers have to some laboratories and equipment.

They say they do not know why the university unexpectedly gave some of the Parkinsons resources to other centre scientists studying soccer ball dribbling and dance, rather than neurodegenerative movement disorders. The decision, they claim, jeopardized Parkinsons treatment and gave staff no time to account for interruptions to research.

Dr. Max Blouw, the universitys president, said resources and space had been reallocated by the school. But he said the reason for the move was a deep and quite sustained conflict between researchers fighting over space.

As a result, the university had to redistribute space and equipment and commit to providing more of both so every researcher has an equal share.

The Parkinsons sufferers are still under the impression that there is going to be some kind of dramatic demotion of the capacity of Dr. Almeida to work with them and quite frankly, I dont see that, said Blouw. Ive tried to reassure them of that, but they continue to be quite fearful of those kinds of consequences.

That fear has manifested itself in a petition signed by more than 500 Parkinsons sufferers and concerned Canadians, who claim Woodley and other centre-frequenters have few, if any, alternatives for equally effective treatment because of the space redistributions.

I dont want to lose what I have gained, Woodley said. I am really, really concerned for the majority of people who were improving. Without this centre, I dont know what they are going to do because it is basically their lives.

Barb Glazer, a former medical laboratory worker attending the centre for Parkinsons treatment, feels the same.

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Wilfrid Laurier Parkinsons funding thrown a curve