Young onset Parkinson’s - not just an older persons condition.

I think I was guilty of treating all people with Parkinson’s the same, regardless of gender or age when I started out as a Parkinson’s nurse 15 years ago. The conferences and courses I attended back then never really differentiated.

However, about 5 yrs ago, more people with the condition started to come along to the training and spoke with such passion about how they had been treated. After meeting people such as Gaynor Edwards, Matt Eagles and Richelle Flanigan, I started to change my practice and prescribing. The feedback from people was much better!!

I was then delighted to be asked in 2023, to join SpotlightYOPD as a Trustee. I then was asked to step up as Deputy CEO last year. The voice of the Young onset community just gets stronger worldwide- check out the work of Esther Laybib-Kiyarash and her Shaking in My Boots social media pages as a great example. I still think there is much work to be done to understand the experience of women and Parkinson’s.

I tried to capture main themes in my article on YOPD in my article for the Journal of Neuroscience-

Please do visit our SpotlightYOPD website here https://spotlightyopd.org/ .

Or visit us on Facebook - we have closed sites for young people with Parkinson’s and one for their loved ones - https://www.facebook.com/share/1CMQzoNHLc/?mibextid=wwXIfr.