Linda Rondstadt has Parkinsons.
She anounced recently- to the point where she can’t perform anymore.
Well, hells bells, people. I thought Parkinsons was more genetic than anything else, and you either had it or you didn’t. Apparently, though, it’s something you can “Get” or ‘Develop”. Lovely.
Anyway, it’s no fun, and Linda was a big part of the industry in her day- you couldn’t listen to any music station and not hear one of her songs sooner or later- and usually sooner. Here’s hoping that she lives the rest of her life in some dignity andwithout discomfort.
When my dear old friend and confidant Mlle Jenny infomred me of this last night it minded me of something that happened to me when I was a teenager. I knew a certain person who was afflicted with Parkinsons, and he had it fairly severly. In conversation one day, he mentioned that his girlfriend liked the unpredictable nature of his motion during sex. I was a bit taken aback, she was sitting right there! She laughed- she was a spaniard he had met in his travels- she said “Eets like hriding an apalaptic bool!”.
I had a good deal of difficulty keeping myself from laughing out loud, and I think I peed myself a little but and maybe strained something in the process.
If Parkinson’s is genetic, it hops around quite a bit.
The first person I knew who had it was my father’s mother who was essentially immobilized by it when I was about 4. I remember when she was fully mobile and I’d help her shell peas. She was in her mid 50s and lived with it until 70.
Her daughter got it in her late 70s, and is now nearly 90. But has drugs that my gma didn’t and lives with it pretty much under control.
Nobody else on that side of the family.
My mother’s two brothers contracted it, though not sure when. Both died in their 80s.
My mother and her 4 sisters never got it (though two succumbed to cancer).
If there is a genetic component, it’s a more likely a factor and not a cause.
“Most people with Parkinson’s disease have idiopathic disease (having no specific known cause). A small proportion of cases, however, can be attributed to known genetic factors. Other factors have been associated with the risk of developing PD, but no causal relationships have been proven.”
“PD traditionally has been considered a non-genetic disorder; however, around 15% of individuals with PD have a first-degree relative who has the disease.[2] At least 5% of people are now known to have forms of the disease that occur because of a mutation of one of several specific genes.[24]”
I have a great-aunt who has Parkinsons. She developed it in her 60s and has been on medication and had surgery. They got her stabilized at some point and she’s not shaking right now but it’s probably just biding its time. No one else in my family, thanks be.
Jenny
A friend of ours (late 60s) was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s. She was very dynamic before, and it is sad to see her slowed down by it. But she’s a game ‘un — she was along on our recent bus trip to DC and was able to do nearly everything the rest of us did. She’s not going to let it beat her if she can help it.
One odd thing about Parkinson’s is that there is a larger percentage of those afflicted that come from rural areas as opposed to urban. Well water is thought to be a possible connection along with genetics. Although, there really is no clear indicator of what brings it on. It starts very slowly and often can be ten years from the onset of symptoms to diagonsis as doctors are very hesitant to diagnose it. There is actually no test other than taking Parkinson’s medications and see if they help.