NEW research is urgently needed to help hundreds of people in East Renfrewshire who are living with Parkinson’s disease.

That’s the message from Parkinson’s UK as the charity launches a public appeal to raise what it calls “desperately-needed funds” to revolutionise treatments.

It claims that, unless urgent action is taken now, research into the condition could fall behind.

The stark warning comes as a Barrhead woman chose to speak out as the charity marks Parkinson’s Awareness Week.

Nancy McFaull wants to see more research that could lead to better treatments.

It took three long and worrying years for Nancy’s diagnosis of Parkinson’s to be confirmed.

She admits it became a real source of frustration as time went on and her body gradually began to let her down, for no obvious reason.

Now the 57-year-old is urging people to support Parkinson’s UK as it stages a major fundraising drive to generate cash to pay for more research and revolutionise the treatments on offer.

Highlighting her own struggles with the illness, Nancy said: “I’d be walking down the street and would suddenly stop and the person with me would ask why and I didn’t know.

“Sometimes, I’d stagger and I’d hear people snigger, thinking I was drunk.
“It’s very hurtful but they just stared and pointed.”

Nancy also told how her illness had a dramatic impact on her work.

She said: “I was a computer programme and Parkinson’s started to affect my job.

“It was difficult doing simple things like tying laces or doing up buttons.”

However, Nancy is also keen to stress that there is hope for those who are diagnosed with Parkinson’s - hope that would be boosted by more research if the public respond well to the new campaign launched by Parkinson’s UK.

She said: “As soon as I take my medication, I can feel a difference. It’s like getting me back.

“There is a real need for more research into treatments.”

Parkinson’s UK say the main drug people with the illness rely on – levodopa – hasn’t changed since the 1960s.

While some new drugs have been developed, no current medication is able to slow down or stop the spread of the condition, leaving those affected with severely limited treatment options.

Katherine Crawford, Scotland Director of Parkinson’s UK, said: “Two hundred years after the condition was identified, people with Parkinson’s in Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire are still waiting for an effective treatment that tackles the condition head on.

“It’s been more than 50 years since the last major drug breakthrough but Parkinson’s can still leave people struggling to do the simple things that most of us take for granted.

“That’s just not good enough for the 11,000 people in Scotland with the condition, many of them in Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire.

“That is why we say we won’t wait any longer. Parkinson’s UK is harnessing the expertise of the research community and the support of those living with Parkinson’s to spearhead a new drive to deliver better treatments and a cure faster but we can’t do this alone.

“We’re urgently asking people to donate whatever they can to support our vital research. We won’t stand by and let Parkinson’s treatments fall further behind.”

Every hour, someone in the UK is told they have Parkinson’s. In Scotland, it affects around one in every 500 people.

Parkinson’s is a degenerative neurological condition, for which there currently is no cure.

The main symptoms of the condition are tremor, slowness of movement and rigidity.

The condition affects almost every area of a person’s life and can result in insomnia, nightmares, anxiety and bladder problems.

Research by Parkinson’s UK found a lack of public understanding of the day-to-day reality of living with the condition.

Almost half of people quizzed didn’t know that it is not possible to prevent Parkinson’s, while four in five were unsure, or incorrectly thought, that there is no limit to the amount of time Parkinson’s medication works for.

In addition, two in three wrongly believed that Parkinson’s medication does more than mask or ease the symptoms of the condition.

To find out more about the campaign or to offer your support, visit wewontwait.parkinsons.org.uk.