In the week from 1 to 6 February, the collection is for the Brain Foundation. This time it will happen online and that will have major consequences for the collection proceeds.
Normally, about 19,000 collectors take to the streets to collect money for the 4 million Dutch people with a brain disorder. Now probably a small part of it will collect online. Yields are now expected to fall by 60 percent. Income that is desperately needed for brain research to better treat brain disorders and prevent them in the future.
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“Due to the corona pandemic, many foundations and their collectors are switching gears this year, the focus will be on the online collection instead of the offline collection,” says Merel Heimens Visser, director of the Brain Foundation. “The health of our collectors and donors at the door is paramount to us as a health fund and that is why we have decided to keep the collection week completely online. In terms of revenue, this is certainly a concern. Normally about 1.5 million euros is collected with the door-to-door collection and in all likelihood this amount will decrease by about 60 percent. This is an enormous amount of money. Money that we desperately need to prevent brain disorders from becoming the biggest disease in the Netherlands.”
Figures from the RIVM show that the number of Dutch people who have a stroke, suffer from dementia or Parkinson's disease will rise explosively until 2014 compared to 2015. The figures show that the number of patients who had a stroke by 2040 will increase by 54. percent increases, the number of dementia patients by 115 percent and the number of people with Parkinson's disease by 71 percent.
Santé recently had an interview with Annelien. She was diagnosed with Parkinson's when she was 33 years old.
“It's definitely not sexy to say, 'I have Parkinson's disease.' Still, I'm very open about it. I'd rather people know what I have than think I'm a nervous person when I tremble. I want people to know that you don't have to be old to get Parkinson's, that it gets more attention and more money for research. The taboo must be removed. Apparently it can happen to anyone, even if you are as young, sporty and full of life as I am.
When my complaints started, I was a gynaecologist in training, I had three young children and everything went well for me. For my work I performed many keyhole surgery, in which you sometimes stand for hours with one arm outstretched in the same position. That broke me. My left arm sometimes didn't want to participate and my shoulder started to hurt. A frozen shoulder was diagnosed. Only I also had a 'cogwheel' in my forearm. Then your arm moves in jerks. Before that I visited several doctors, but no one could explain that.”
“Three months earlier my father had been diagnosed with Parkinson's. Jokingly, I said to him, "You'll see I have the same as you." But really, I never thought I could. Even as a doctor, I did not know that this disease also occurs in young people. I knew a teacher at Erasmus University who had it. He was old, bent over, bent and trembling through the corridors. That was my picture of Parkinson's. So when my current neurologist told me what I was suffering from, I was shocked. I didn't feel sick at all. Later I discovered that if you put a thousand Parkinson's patients in a row, they all have a different symptom. So it was still possible…
Those first weeks I was in shock. My world was turned upside down. The diagnosis came at a bad time. I wasn't sure if I could still finish my education and I got all kinds of well-intentioned advice from my environment to get me retrained. I wasn't waiting for that. My work was and still is my great passion. In addition, I felt very fit. Okay, my left arm faltered, but nothing else was wrong.
In the end I continued my education and specialized without performing keyhole surgery. I didn't mind the latter. I am more into the big work than the fiddling with the square centimeter and wanted to focus mainly on obstetrics and prenatal diagnosis.”
Parkinson's is one of the fastest growing neurological diseases. Some scientists even speak of a Parkinson's pandemic. Researchers estimate that the number of people with the disease could rise to 17 million by 2040. The exact cause of Parkinson's is not known. The deterioration of the functioning of the brain with increasing age, a disorder in protein metabolism and environmental factors, such as contact with toxic substances, may play a role. There is also evidence that there is an intense two-way interaction between the gut, gut flora and brain, which has important implications for brain health, and may also play a role in Parkinson's.
Parkinson's disease also affects young people. About five percent of people with Parkinson's are diagnosed when they are under the age of 40. Back to the future actor Michael J. Fox is one of the most famous:he was diagnosed at the age of 28.
Unfortunately, Parkinson's cannot be cured yet. However, scientists are constantly discovering new ways to control symptoms, so that patients' quality of life is improved. Would you like more information or make a donation? Look at Parkinson-vereniging.nl.
