Chorley’s town hall clock tower was lit up in blue to mark World Parkinson’s Day on the 11th April, 2018. It is 200 years since James Parkinson identified the disease he named as “shaking palsy”. It is believed 145,000 people in the UK have been diagnosed with the disease. Chorley has a Parkinson’s Group which meets at 2pm on the first Tuesday of the month at Tatton Community Centre.
The group has a regular speaker and members of the group visit places of interest and complete helpful exercises. Parkinsons affect the central nervous system and early symptoms include shaking, rigidity, slowness of movement and difficulty walking.
Independent Living Owner (Mark Booker) commented “when I started the home care business in 2011 we looked after a gentleman with quite advanced Parkinsons who had pioneering brain surgery to control his tremors. As a result I became interested in the disease and we cared for a number of people with the disease. We found that a person with Parkinsons would find their condition varying throughout the day with the afternoons usually better. People with Parkinsons have to take their medication at a certain time and for a home care company timing the care visits was crucial”.
Mark also commented “we hear so much today about memory loss and Alzheimers because of the large number of people with the disease but Parkinsons also affects a great many people (100,000+) so it is great that it is also getting good publicity – we welcome “World Parkinson’s Day”
