Parkinson S Disease

Events Legal documents seminars -- The Baltimore County Department of Aging and the law firm of Frank, Frank and Scherr LLC are offering free discussions on health care decision-making, estate planning and asset management in area senior centers this month. 410-887-2594. Classes Type 2 diabetes -- Greater Baltimore Medical Center's Geckle Diabetes & Nutrition Center, 6569 N. Charles St., Physicians' Pavilion East, Suite 507, Towson / Days and times vary. Registration: 443-849-2036. Screenings Hernia -- St. Joseph Medical Center, 7601 Osler Drive, Towson / Free for adults 18 and older.

Events Coping with Alzheimer's -- The Baltimore County Department of Aging, in partnership with the Alzheimer's Association, will sponsor free sessions at local senior centers throughout this month. For a list of times and locations, call 410-887-2594. JCC health fair -- Rosenbloom Owings Mills JCC, Meyerhoff Health and Fitness Wing Lobby, 3506 Gwynnbrook Ave., Owings Mills / Professionals will discuss various stress reduction therapies such as acupressure, acupuncture, hypnotherapy and holistic medicine.

Dr. Thomas J. Preziosi, a neurologist and noted researcher at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, died Saturday at University of Maryland Hospital Center of injuries suffered in an automobile accident. He was 74 and lived near Parkville.He and his wife of 48 years, the former Perella V. Sullivan, were driving in Baltimore County on Manor Road around noon July 16 when the car went off the road, struck a tree and flipped over.Mrs. Preziosi, who also was injured, is in stable condition at Good Samaritan Hospital.

C. Elmer Anderson, 85, a Republican who was elected lieutenant governor of Minnesota at 26 and served a record 11 years in that post, then became governor, died Thursday in St. Paul.Mary Ingraham Bunting-Smith, 87, the fifth president of Radcliffe College and founder of the school's Bunting Institute, died Wednesday in Hanover, N.H.Charles Conrad, 88, a former legislator and actor who played the judge in the "Perry Mason" television series, died Jan. 15 in Thousand Oaks, Calif.Phillip Swain, 82, a nationally known advocate for public education, died Wednesday in Seattle of complications from Parkinson's disease.

If any actor seemed forever young, it was Michael J. Fox. Even at 37, the star of "Spin City" seemed capable of riding back to the future on a skateboard.Now he tells us he has Parkinson's disease, a progressive brain disorder that in time brings a shuffling gait, trembling hands, a stooped posture and stiff movements. As he arrives in Baltimore today to promote the Port Discovery children's museum at an invitation-only celebration, fans are still trying to process how Fox managed to keep his disease private for seven years -- looking youthful all the way.When he first heard about Fox's illness, Dr. Paul S. Fishman, a Parkinson's specialist at the University of Maryland Medical Center, made a point of watching "Spin City" to see whether the energetic actor showed any signs of the disease.

As leader of the world's 965 million Roman Catholics, Pope John Paul II speaks to a constituency second only to the premier of China's in size.Like any other head of state, the pope is not exempt from sometimes only repeating the familiar. But there is often something in his message to challenge his audience, and the audience often extends beyond the Catholic community.Two themes stand out in his recent statements: the millennium and the tenuous freedom of Eastern Europe.In almost every address, he mentions the coming millennium as a benchmark for Christianity -- an opportunity for self-examination and reconciliation.

THAT THUD you heard could be the sport of boxing hitting the canvas hard for the final count.The American public's long romance with this sport has taken a beating in recent years -- though it has found a profitable home on a few cable networks. NBC last year relegated Olympic boxing to the television equivalent of Siberia during its coverage of the Games, while feeding its audience generous portions of gymnastics, swimming and track.Now, comes Mike Tyson's brutal behavior in the ring during his Saturday night professional heavyweight bout against Evander Holyfield, in which he bit off part of his opponent's ear. The former champ has long been known as a self-destructive man, who not long ago was serving prison time for rape.

This year promises to be a busy one for Maryland's growing biotechnology industry. A wealth of venturesome science is in the works, from groundbreaking vaccines for cancers and AIDS to a pioneering gene therapy to treat brain cancer.Among the promising biotechnology companies in Maryland and their work to watch:Cel-Sci Corp. - Expect news from this small biotechnology firm about its development-stage drug Multikine. It is being tested this year for use as an anti-cancer drug and as a possible therapy for treating HIV.The company, which has its research and development offices in Baltimore, also will be furthering research on HGP-30, its promising experimental AIDS vaccine.

Guilford Pharmaceuticals Inc. said yesterday that it plans to launch late-stage human clinical trials in the United States later this year of its diagnostic test for Parkinson's disease.The Baltimore-based company said it decided to move ahead with starting the trials because recent clinical data showed the test is highly accurate in differentiating people with a Parkinsonian disorder from people without the disease.Currently, there is no reliable test for diagnosing early-stage Parkinson's disease, a degenerative brain disease that causes tremors, stiffness and difficulty moving.

Justin J. Finger,69, a lawyer who spent decades working for the Anti-Defamation League, died of a heart attack Tuesday in New York. He had been the associate national director of the Anti-Defamation League, which he joined in 1959. For 33 years, he was a key player in the league's mission to protect Jews from discrimination, and he often defended other oppressed groups.Rowena Lung Alcorn,91, a painter and illustrator whose specialty was the Nez Perce Indians, died May 3 in Tacoma, Wash.Gen.

Essential tremor is a neurological problem that results in tremors (shakiness), usually of the hands and arms, writes Dr. William Weiner, professor and chairman of neurology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and director of the school's Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center. * There is no known cause for essential tremor, although it sometimes runs in families. The onset of the tremor can be in adolescence or later in life. Most people with essential tremor experience very gradual worsening of the tremor over decades.

Under Our Skin is a documentary wake-up call. This compelling account of the explosive growth of Lyme disease grows to encompass all the peculiar politics, corruption and inertia of American medicine. Everyone agrees that the tick-borne disease is "the great imitator," mirroring a multitude of ailments, including fibromyalgia and Parkinson's disease. But the ideas that Lyme disease can be chronic and that its treatment should go on for months or years have become points of controversy for physicians, insurers, and research funders.

CLAIBORNE PELL, 90 U.S. senator, creator of Pell Grants Claiborne Pell, the quirky blueblood who represented blue-collar Rhode Island in the U.S. Senate for 36 years and was the force behind a grant program that has helped tens of millions of Americans attend college, died yesterday at his Newport home after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. Mr. Pell, a Democrat, spoke with an aristocratic tone but was an unabashed liberal who spent his political career championing causes to help the less fortunate.

*Amanda Gorsuch, a nurse at at Mercy Medical Center, is being honored with the DAISY Award For Extraordinary Nurses. The award is part of the DAISY Foundation's program to recognize nurses. The foundation, based in Glen Ellen, Calif., was established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, who died in 1999 at the age of 33 from complications of an autoimmune disease. The nursing care Barnes received inspired the award. Gorsuch is the first DAISY honoree in Maryland. She was nominated by a patient who was touched by her care.

Louis Ginsberg, a trumpeter for more than 60 years whose band played at President John F. Kennedy's inauguration, died Friday of complications from Parkinson's disease at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. He was 92. Mr. Ginsberg was born in Lynn, Mass., and moved to the Baltimore area when he was 10 years old. He graduated from City College in 1933. He started playing the trumpet in 1929, at age 13, and studied under musicians at the Peabody Conservatory and the National Symphony. From 1940 to 1941, he played trumpet with Don Bestor's Band.

Carl N. Karcher, 90 Founder of fast-food chain Carl N. Karcher, who parlayed a $325 investment in a hot-dog cart into one of the biggest hamburger chains in the western U.S., died last week. He suffered from Parkinson's disease and was being treated for pneumonia. Mr. Karcher founded Carl's Jr., which has more than 1,000 locations.

Earlier this month, Tim Borland set out to run the equivalent of 63 marathons in 63 days, consecutively, to raise money and awareness for a rare degenerative disease. About the same time, a group of fathers began cycling across the United States to help in the fight against a rare form of children's cancer. And a New York man is in the midst of a decade-long goal to scale 10 mountains in as many years for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's research. All hope for copious dollars and national media attention, but most people will never hear of their endeavors or make donations to their causes.

John Charles "Jack" Corbitt, a retired insurance sales manager who had played golf since he was 14, died of Parkinson's disease complications Friday at Coastal Hospice in Salisbury. The Ocean Pines resident was 71. Born in Baltimore and raised on Collins Avenue in Irvington, Mr. Corbitt began caddying at the Rolling Road Country Club in Catonsville as an 11-year-old. Family members said that initially he did not like the game, but he soon began playing. He used secondhand golf clubs and captured the Maryland Scholastic Association Golf Championship at 16. The next year, he shot a 74 at the Baltimore Country Club to win the Maryland Junior Open Championship.

Events Legal documents seminars -- The Baltimore County Department of Aging and the law firm of Frank, Frank and Scherr LLC are offering free discussions on health care decision-making, estate planning and asset management in area senior centers this month. 410-887-2594. Classes Type 2 diabetes -- Greater Baltimore Medical Center's Geckle Diabetes & Nutrition Center, 6569 N. Charles St., Physicians' Pavilion East, Suite 507, Towson / Days and times vary. Registration: 443-849-2036. Screenings Hernia -- St. Joseph Medical Center, 7601 Osler Drive, Towson / Free for adults 18 and older.

Events Maintain your brain -- The Baltimore County Department of Aging, in partnership with the Alzheimer's Association, will sponsor free sessions at local senior centers this month. For a list of times and locations, call 410-887-2594. Classes Type 2 diabetes -- Greater Baltimore Medical Center's Geckle Diabetes & Nutrition Center, 6569 N. Charles St., Physicians' Pavilion East, Suite 507, Towson / Days and times vary. Registration: 443-849-2036. Exercise Walking program -- Honeygo Run Regional Park, off Honeygo Boulevard / 9:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. Mondays-Fridays.