- 9 months ago
Dave Iverson explores the scientific, ethical, and political debates that surround Parkinson's disease, speaking with scientists exploring cutting-edge cures and therapies, as well as fellow Parkinson's sufferers (Iverson was diagnosed with the disease in 2004).
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00:00Music
00:12Music
00:16Music
00:24Music
00:28Reach all the way down to the floor without moving your feet.
00:32Living with Parkinson's disease.
00:34Okay.
00:35A story frontline correspondent, Dave Iverson, and his family know firsthand.
00:40I hadn't thought that it would happen, but it has happened.
00:44Very good.
00:45Parkinson's affects a million Americans.
00:48I have a mindset that I am going to...
00:52Not that this blankety of Parkinson's can get me down.
00:56And it's been front and center in the debate over embryonic stem cell science.
01:01This bill would support the taking of innocent human life, so I vetoed it.
01:08You know, when you're talking about the potential to heal and cure so many,
01:12and it not going forward, it pissed me off, and I wanted to do something.
01:19Now, the politics have changed, but the quest for a cure continues.
01:24How close are we?
01:26We're a lot closer than we were 10 years ago.
01:29A lot closer.
01:30Tonight on Frontline, correspondent Dave Iverson tracks the pursuit of Parkinson's
01:35and his own family journey.
01:38The
01:57It isn't dramatic.
02:18It's a disease of inches.
02:20A hand starts to shake.
02:23A step becomes a shuffle.
02:25Life in gradual slow motion.
02:32Parkinson's arrives without fanfare.
02:36You're jogging at the gym one day,
02:38and you notice that one arm isn't swinging the same as the other.
02:43In time, other signs accumulate.
02:46A leg starts to tingle.
02:48A finger trembles.
02:51None of it seems like a big deal.
02:52So you keep living your life.
02:56And we will take your calls when we come back.
02:58If you'd like to join in our conversation about faith and politics,
03:01you can call us now.
03:02For me, that meant continuing to host radio and TV shows in San Francisco.
03:06One of the issues that has come up in this campaign...
03:09And doing my best to ignore what wouldn't go away.
03:12It took two years before that odd collection of symptoms formed a whole diagnosis.
03:21I had Parkinson's, and it was about to send my life in a new direction.
03:26It's not the worst diagnosis.
03:37Right now, I'm doing fine.
03:39Push your fingers, thumbs up.
03:41Press.
03:43But as everyone in this Parkinson's exercise class told me,
03:47the disease is a relentless foe,
03:50handing out its challenges one by one.
03:52There's something about the inevitability of it.
04:00It's a very gradual disease, but inevitably it's going to get you.
04:04You go through a period of adjusting
04:07when you realize that your life is going to be different than you had imagined.
04:13Life changes for Parkinson's patients
04:16when a key neurotransmitter called dopamine goes missing.
04:19Put your hands inside your knees.
04:21Dopamine is like the oil that lubricates your motor system.
04:24Without it, muscles stiffen, arms shake.
04:27Sometimes you stutter and stop.
04:30By counting your steps, you break up that festination problem.
04:33One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight...
04:37Drugs help for a while,
04:39and a new surgical technique called deep brain stimulation
04:42can relieve symptoms for several years.
04:45And go. And go.
04:47But the disease is progressive, and there is no cure.
04:52Roll to your right.
04:53Tom Shearer has had Parkinson's for 15 years,
04:57and early on, he coped well.
05:00Things had been going very well,
05:02and then all of a sudden,
05:05out of the blue,
05:07I disintegrated.
05:09A circle.
05:10It suddenly occurred to me
05:11that this was not a battle that I was going to win.
05:17Look back behind you,
05:18then look back behind you over here,
05:19then look back behind you over there.
05:20Is Parkinson's a winnable battle?
05:23It's a question I've thought about
05:24ever since I got my own diagnosis,
05:27in part because it made me think about my dad.
05:31My father was a man with an easy smile
05:39and a ready wit.
05:42And to his great good fortune,
05:44he had quite a partner at his side.
05:47My now 96-year-old mother, Adelaide.
05:50It's such a natural picture, really.
05:53Yeah, well, I don't think he would have been posing like that.
05:55Well, who knows?
05:58You remember he was the Lone Ranger once.
06:02My father was a performer at heart,
06:05and my parents married not long after
06:07he'd finished a stint in radio,
06:09working on the original Lone Ranger.
06:16I love this letter from his broadcasting company.
06:20Oh, this is a wonderful letter.
06:22Read it.
06:23It's with regret that we learn
06:25and that Bill is considering
06:26the completion of his course
06:28as he has a fine voice,
06:30good vocabulary,
06:32and an instantaneous mind.
06:34I always loved that phrase,
06:35an instantaneous mind.
06:39My dad left broadcasting
06:40to become a teacher.
06:43But the spoken word remained central
06:45to who he was.
06:47Language was his gift,
06:49a gift that began slipping away
06:51in the fall of 1971.
06:55I was walking with him,
06:56and I thought he was holding his hand,
06:59just not in an ordinary way.
07:02It was,
07:03it looked stiff
07:05and different.
07:08It was the first sign of Parkinson's,
07:11a condition that not only steals movement,
07:14it can rob you of something more.
07:15He was mostly concerned about his voice
07:19because he did have a good voice.
07:23And that deteriorated gradually.
07:28Toward the end,
07:29he really couldn't talk.
07:32I think that was the hardest thing for him.
07:37Hardest,
07:38by far the hardest thing.
07:40It was harder than not moving,
07:42actually,
07:42I think,
07:43in many ways.
07:46There he is.
07:47There he is.
07:48Poetry in motion.
07:50My brother,
07:51Peter.
07:52Like siblings everywhere,
07:54we've talked about how we grew up,
07:56what we took from our parents,
07:57including how our dad dealt with Parkinson's.
08:02I think he conveyed to us,
08:03in one way or another,
08:04a sense about life in general
08:07being a fragile enterprise.
08:10I think he was one of those people who,
08:12you know,
08:12immigrant son who said,
08:14no excuses,
08:15no whining,
08:16get to work.
08:17Pow!
08:18That's a pretty good kick.
08:19That's a pretty good kick.
08:21Like my dad,
08:22Peter became a teacher.
08:24And in the summer of 1992,
08:2720 years after my dad's diagnosis,
08:29he too felt the same for signals of the disease.
08:33Do you remember having a sort of sense of foreboding about that?
08:36I think that's it.
08:37There have been too many signs,
08:39too many physical manifestations,
08:41too many indications to think otherwise.
08:46It's always there.
08:48It's one of the first things you think about in the morning
08:50and one of the last things you think about at night.
08:51And it says to you,
08:55you know,
08:58take advantage of the time you have.
09:01You work a little harder.
09:03And you realize the timetable is not the same.
09:07Do you remember the conversation that you and I had
09:10when I called you up
09:13and told you that I had been diagnosed as well?
09:18Yeah, I do remember that.
09:19Do you remember what you said to me?
09:21Mercifully, I don't,
09:23but I'm about to be reminded, I think.
09:25No, I've always remembered it.
09:27You said to me,
09:28we'll just have to fight this together.
09:31I do remember.
09:34My father,
09:35my brother,
09:36and me.
09:38We share a common journey.
09:40And now I find myself wondering about the road ahead.
09:47What I might learn
09:48and what might slip away.
09:50put your hands close to your chest,
10:00but don't touch my fingers.
10:02Given my family story,
10:03I couldn't help but wonder if Parkinson's was genetic.
10:06And look here.
10:08And look here.
10:09So I enrolled in a study
10:10at Jacksonville's Mayo Clinic.
10:12Until recently,
10:16the idea that your DNA might cause Parkinson's
10:19was considered unlikely.
10:22But geneticists like the Mayo Clinic's Dr. Matthew Farr
10:26are now taking a closer look
10:27at the role of the family tree.
10:30There was no genetics
10:31in Parkinson's disease 10 years ago.
10:33None.
10:34This century,
10:35the 21st century,
10:36it's genetics.
10:38The genetics provides
10:39molecular clues,
10:40rational clues
10:42as to what's going on
10:43in the disease process.
10:45In the past 10 years,
10:48Farr and other geneticists
10:49have found mutations
10:50that cause Parkinson's
10:51in six different genes.
10:53And they're looking for more.
10:56Just tell me about your family
10:57and I could just draw them in.
10:59Okay.
10:59So there is me
11:01and I have Parkinson's.
11:03All right.
11:05And so does one of my brothers.
11:07And my father had Parkinson's.
11:09And beyond individual family ties,
11:12geneticists are now tracking
11:14Parkinson's genes
11:15in whole populations.
11:17It's my understanding
11:18that you come from Norway.
11:19Your background is Norwegian.
11:21Yeah.
11:21My grandfather was born in Norway,
11:23in Larvik, Norway.
11:25Grandfather on what side?
11:26My father's side.
11:28In 2004,
11:30Mayo scientists helped discover
11:31the most common Parkinson's mutation
11:33in the LERK2 gene.
11:35They've now traced it
11:37to several locations,
11:39including North Africa,
11:40near the ancient site of Carthage.
11:43And oddly enough,
11:44to my ancestral home,
11:46the coast of Norway.
11:48It spread to Norway, we think,
11:50because of Viking occupation.
11:52There was the Vikings
11:52living in and around Carthage
11:54at around 1000 AD.
11:56And this particular mutation
11:58is quite common
11:59in the northern coastline of Norway.
12:03My grandfather's birthplace
12:05is on the Norwegian coast,
12:07next door to Norway's
12:09first Viking settlement.
12:11So did my own family's Parkinson's saga
12:14begin a thousand years ago,
12:16when some seafaring relative
12:18came calling in Carthage?
12:20With your particular description
12:23of your disease
12:23and your family history
12:26and origin,
12:28there's quite a high chance,
12:30I would think,
12:31that you have a genetic form
12:32of the disease.
12:34Quite a high chance,
12:36though still not certain.
12:38But oddly enough,
12:39that possibility
12:40might bring a bit of family luck.
12:43And here's why.
12:45This is a graphic representation
12:46of the LERK2 gene,
12:48the gene in question.
12:50And it offers researchers
12:51a ready-made target
12:52for fixing the disease.
12:55Farrer thinks that the key
12:56is repairing what he calls
12:58the gene's faulty doorway.
13:00It's the hinge of that door
13:02that you want to...
13:03That's broken.
13:04That's broken in LERK2, yeah.
13:05The hinge is broken in LERK2,
13:06the door is always open.
13:08And the thought would be
13:09to create a drug
13:10that could close that door.
13:11Actually fill the doorway.
13:12Yeah.
13:13Get in the way.
13:15Finding a drug
13:16that would fix the mutation
13:17would be great news
13:19for potentially affected families
13:20like mine.
13:22But Parkinson's usually appears
13:24out of nowhere,
13:25with no family ties in sight.
13:28So, besides genes,
13:29there must be something else
13:30that jumpstarts the disease.
13:33One theory first made news
13:35more than 20 years ago.
13:37First, a background report
13:38on Parkinson's disease
13:39by Dave Iverson
13:41of public station WHAA,
13:43Madison, Wisconsin.
13:44And in one of life's
13:45little ironies,
13:46it was a story
13:47that I had covered too.
13:49This is what's known
13:50about Parkinson's disease.
13:52It's progressive
13:53and it's incurable.
13:55In the mid-1980s,
13:56I'd reported on the work
13:57of a young Stanford neurologist
13:59named Bill Langston,
14:00who'd come across
14:01something startling
14:02that seemed to cause Parkinson's.
14:06Now, more than 20 years later,
14:09I've headed back
14:10to Bill Langston's Parkinson's Institute.
14:12We're thrilled to be here.
14:14Since the 1980s,
14:15Langston and his team
14:16have investigated
14:17whether environmental toxins
14:19might trigger the disease,
14:20a quest that began
14:22with a most unusual patient.
14:24It really started
14:25with my getting called
14:26to see a patient
14:27who had developed Parkinson's
14:29literally over two or three days.
14:32And he was young.
14:33That's not typical.
14:34It came on quickly.
14:36That's not typical.
14:37So he was a true medical mystery.
14:40Can you raise this hand up at all?
14:42Can you raise that hand up?
14:43He was literally frozen
14:45like a statue.
14:46I can see you trying.
14:48So I knew instantly
14:49we had a neurologic condition
14:51on our hands,
14:52but what, we had no idea.
14:56What Langston and his team
14:57were about to discover
14:58would turn the Parkinson's world
15:01upside down.
15:02In taking history,
15:04we asked him
15:04if he was on any medications.
15:07And to our shock,
15:08he wrote the word heroin.
15:10Not a traditional medication,
15:12but that was our first clue.
15:15We were eventually able
15:16to figure out
15:17that there was a tainted heroin
15:18on the streets
15:19in Northern California
15:20and that this heroin
15:22was probably the most selective
15:23brain toxin ever discovered.
15:27After these addicts shot up,
15:29it went straight into the brain
15:30like a Nike missile
15:32and literally killed
15:33and literally killed
15:33the same cells in the brain
15:35that died in Parkinson's.
15:37And we had literally
15:38instant Parkinson's disease.
15:41Can you stand up?
15:42Let's try to stand up.
15:43Okay.
15:43But did this condition
15:44really equate
15:45to normal Parkinson's?
15:47One test would be
15:48to see whether standard
15:49Parkinson's drugs would help.
15:51At that point,
15:52can you hop up and down?
15:53The results were truly dramatic.
15:56It literally brought
15:57these patients back to life.
15:59On your left foot.
16:01On your right foot.
16:02But just a half hour later,
16:04the Parkinson's medication
16:05begins to wear off.
16:07And soon,
16:08the patient is back
16:10to his frozen state.
16:11How do you feel now?
16:12Can you move?
16:13You can't move?
16:15Langston now knew
16:16a street drug could cause
16:17a Parkinson's-like condition.
16:19But what the scientists
16:21discovered next
16:22radically altered
16:23the nature
16:23of Parkinson's research.
16:26It turned out
16:27that the synthetic heroin,
16:28MPTP,
16:30had a chemical makeup
16:31strikingly similar
16:32to a widely used herbicide,
16:34paraquat.
16:37That was an aha moment
16:39because if here
16:40a compound
16:41could cause
16:42all of the motor symptoms
16:43of Parkinson's
16:44was also very,
16:46very chemically similar
16:47to an herbicide
16:49that's widely used,
16:50it really raised the question
16:51how many of those things
16:52are out there.
16:53We now are hunting,
16:55specifically looking
16:56for chemicals,
16:57one or more chemicals
16:58in the environment
16:59that might play a role
17:00in Parkinson's disease.
17:02The findings galvanized
17:03the scientific community.
17:06Researchers began looking
17:07into whether Parkinson's
17:09was caused by a variety
17:10of environmental triggers.
17:13And history seemed
17:14to support that approach.
17:18Scientists knew
17:19that Parkinson's
17:19hadn't even appeared
17:20in the medical literature
17:21until 1817,
17:24the beginning
17:24of the Industrial Revolution
17:25when toxins
17:26were first being poured
17:28into the environment.
17:30They now wondered
17:32if Parkinson's
17:33could be at least in part
17:34a modern disease
17:35triggered by toxins
17:37like MPTP.
17:38I think it's a very
17:40exciting time
17:41for research
17:41in this disease
17:42and for patients
17:44with Parkinson's disease
17:45and their families
17:46that's good news.
17:48Thank you very much.
17:49We had a real hope
17:50that this would solve
17:51the disease
17:52and I thought
17:53three to four years
17:54we would have an answer.
17:55In fact,
17:57in three to four years
17:58we did have an answer
17:59and that was
18:00that probably
18:01MPTP itself
18:02was not the cause
18:03of Parkinson's.
18:05Not the cause,
18:06but a key clue.
18:08Indeed,
18:08recent studies
18:09have built on
18:10Langston's
18:10initial breakthrough
18:11showing that
18:12pesticide exposure
18:13can increase
18:14disease risk
18:15by as much as 70%.
18:17And many scientists
18:20now think genes
18:21in the environment
18:22might actually work
18:23hand-in-hand
18:24to cause most Parkinson's
18:26with certain genes
18:27triggering the disease
18:28only when a toxic
18:29exposure takes place.
18:32There's an old saying
18:33that genetics
18:33loads the gun
18:34and environment
18:35pulls the trigger
18:36and that may be
18:36the case in Parkinson's.
18:37we still don't have
18:40a smoking gun.
18:42That's for sure.
18:44But that's what
18:44we're looking for.
18:52And so,
18:53the time-consuming hunt
18:54for what causes
18:55Parkinson's continues.
18:59But time,
19:00of course,
19:00is what people
19:01with Parkinson's
19:02can least afford.
19:03For them,
19:05the quest that matters
19:06most is the search
19:08for a cure.
19:10When I first met
19:11Peter,
19:12he was a man
19:14who was truly suffering.
19:15Okay, that's good.
19:17You know,
19:17he's a thoughtful,
19:18intelligent man,
19:19but he had some
19:21real periods
19:21of disability,
19:23and he was really
19:24desperate and hopeful
19:25that we could do
19:26something to kind of
19:27give him his life back.
19:29Okay, Peter.
19:30I actually didn't know
19:32how bad it was
19:33until I saw myself.
19:36And I felt like
19:38somebody should take me
19:39out and shoot me.
19:41I didn't know that
19:43I had gone downhill
19:44that much.
19:45In 1999,
19:49Canadian Peter Sauer
19:50went to see a team
19:51of specialists
19:51in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
19:54His symptoms
19:55could no longer
19:55be controlled
19:56by Parkinson's drugs.
19:58The Halifax team,
20:00led by Dr. Ivar Mendes
20:01and Harvard neuroscientist
20:03Ula Isaacson,
20:04was trying to refine
20:06a controversial procedure
20:07they hoped
20:08would lead to a cure,
20:11a fetal brain cell transplant.
20:12What we're learning
20:15is how to reconstruct
20:16the brain.
20:18Cells can actually
20:19be put back
20:19into the brain,
20:20they can grow
20:21new connections,
20:22and release this
20:23transmitter,
20:24this chemical,
20:25dopamine,
20:26in a natural
20:26and appropriate way.
20:29The idea
20:30was to restart
20:31dopamine production
20:32by taking fetal neural
20:33cells,
20:34derived from aborted
20:35tissue,
20:36and transplanting them
20:37into a patient's brain.
20:38Now we talk
20:41about the concept
20:42of brain repair.
20:44Brain repair,
20:45you know,
20:45when I was in medical school,
20:46which is really
20:47not that long ago,
20:48was not even
20:50something that was
20:51thought about it.
20:53So we have
20:54advanced tremendously
20:55to understand
20:56that we can
20:57potentially repair
20:58the brain.
21:00But would brain repair
21:01work for Peter Sauer?
21:03You can see here
21:04very clearly...
21:06Images taken
21:07of a brain
21:07from a previous
21:08transplant recipient
21:09were promising.
21:10From this bunch
21:11of cells,
21:12you can see
21:12these little
21:13wiggly brown
21:14fibers that are
21:16growing and
21:17restoring that
21:18area of the brain
21:19that is affected
21:21by Parkinson's disease.
21:24By way of comparison,
21:25here's the same
21:26section of the brain
21:27from a Parkinson's
21:28patient who did
21:29not have a transplant.
21:31Here,
21:32there's no evidence
21:32of brain cell
21:33activity at all.
21:35There's nothing
21:36going on there.
21:37Yeah, there's nothing
21:37going on.
21:39The microscopic
21:39evidence is compelling,
21:41but the evidence
21:42in person is stunning.
21:45Okay, Peter.
21:45Here's Peter Sauer
21:46at the age of 65,
21:48as seen without
21:49medication prior
21:50to his transplant.
21:52And here's Peter Sauer,
21:54age 72,
21:55without medication
21:56today.
21:58You look really
21:58fantastic, Peter.
22:01I don't know
22:02what to say.
22:03I think we have.
22:04Yes.
22:05It turned out
22:06to be the wunderkind
22:07now.
22:07I don't know
22:07why that is.
22:11Today,
22:12I see a man
22:13who is full
22:15of life
22:15and energy.
22:16I actually have a hard
22:17time keeping up
22:18with Peter.
22:20When I see
22:21things like that,
22:22and I remember
22:23the way patients
22:24were before the
22:25surgery,
22:26it's like
22:26witnessing a miracle,
22:27because you see
22:29they really do
22:30have their lives
22:30back.
22:31It's quite
22:32something to witness.
22:34But for people
22:35with Parkinson's,
22:36the hope
22:36engendered by stories
22:38like Peter Sauer's
22:39proved short-lived.
22:41A year after
22:42Peter's procedure,
22:44a series of fetal
22:45transplants
22:45at the University
22:46of Colorado,
22:48utilizing a different
22:48surgical technique
22:49than the Halifax team,
22:51yielded deeply
22:52disappointing results.
22:53While some recipients
22:55showed modest improvement,
22:57others wound up
22:58far worse,
23:00unable to even
23:00control their own
23:02bodies.
23:03Even though
23:03some patients
23:04recovered,
23:05some patients
23:06recovered too much.
23:07In other words,
23:08they started to show
23:09excessive movements
23:10rather than
23:11just enough.
23:13So,
23:14instead of being
23:15helped,
23:16they were actually
23:16made worse.
23:18It was a
23:18demoralizing setback,
23:20and despite
23:20the Halifax success,
23:22served to
23:23largely frees
23:24the field
23:24of fetal
23:24transplants
23:25in its place.
23:27There's an old
23:28saying in science
23:29that research
23:30is the process
23:31of going up
23:32alleys
23:33to see
23:33if they're blind.
23:35And more often
23:36than not,
23:36they are,
23:37but that's
23:38what we do.
23:40Meanwhile,
23:41the clock ticks.
23:43This year,
23:44some 50,000 people
23:46in the United States
23:47will wake up
23:47and sense
23:48something's wrong.
23:50They're more likely
23:51to be men
23:52than women,
23:53more likely
23:53to be people
23:54my age.
23:56But sometimes
23:57that unwelcome
23:58wake-up call
23:58arrives when you're
23:59young,
24:00when your career
24:01is just taking off.
24:03Since you're
24:04obviously not a patient
24:05and I'm not getting
24:06anywhere,
24:07tell me where I can
24:08find a guy named
24:08Lou drives an ambulance
24:09and I'll get out
24:10of your life.
24:11I'm Lou.
24:15I was doing a film
24:16in Florida
24:16and was partying
24:18pretty good
24:18and was used
24:19to waking up
24:19and not in great shape
24:21but I woke up
24:22one morning
24:22and my pinky
24:23was twitching
24:24and it was just
24:26persistent
24:27and I just
24:27realized that
24:29there's nothing
24:31I can do
24:31to stop it.
24:33And I thought,
24:34is this like DTs?
24:36Who gets DTs
24:37in a pinky?
24:39You know,
24:39with a lot of injury,
24:40a lot of catastrophic
24:40illness,
24:41it's like stepping
24:42off a curb
24:42and getting hit
24:43by a bus.
24:44But with Parkinson's,
24:46it's like actually
24:47being stuck
24:48in the middle
24:48of the road
24:49while the bus
24:49is coming
24:49and you can hear it.
24:53You have no idea
24:53how big it is,
24:54you have no idea
24:54how fast it's going,
24:55you have no idea
24:56whether it's going
24:56to hit you all the way
24:57or just going to
24:57graze you
24:58and screw you up.
25:00It's a lot
25:01to think about
25:01and it's not anything
25:03that I was ready
25:04to introduce
25:05to the neighbors
25:05until I really
25:07understood it.
25:08Do you remember
25:08a time when
25:09you were at
25:10peace with
25:11the bus coming?
25:13There was a time
25:14I was talking
25:15to my therapist
25:15and I said
25:16everything was great
25:17in my life
25:18and wonderful
25:18my kids
25:19and my wife
25:20and my work
25:21was going well
25:21but I said
25:22to her
25:23I feel like
25:24I'm still waiting
25:26for the other shoe
25:27to drop
25:27and she said
25:29you have Parkinson's
25:30the other shoe
25:30already dropped
25:31and it was just
25:32this why
25:33I just went
25:33wow
25:35you're right
25:35what are they
25:37going to do to me?
25:38Michael J. Fox
25:39kept his diagnosis
25:40secret for seven years
25:42but at the age
25:44of 37
25:44he decided
25:45it was time
25:46to go public
25:47and bring new
25:48attention to the disease
25:49when you're faced
25:51with something real
25:52it demands something
25:53of you
25:54that you wouldn't
25:55have chosen
25:55for yourself
25:56this is a real
25:58opportunity for me
25:58to help people
26:00the same month
26:02that Michael J. Fox
26:03went public
26:04November 1998
26:05Parkinson's was back
26:07in the headlines
26:08for a different reason
26:09for the first time
26:11researchers have
26:12generated cells
26:13that are the basis
26:14of human life
26:15and this could
26:16radically change
26:17the way medicine
26:18fights disease
26:19a startling
26:21scientific development
26:22embryonic stem cells
26:24cells that are
26:25derived from embryos
26:26rather than fetal tissue
26:28opened a new door
26:29of possibility
26:30suddenly there was
26:33the promise
26:33of creating cells
26:34that could replace
26:35what goes wrong
26:36in any number
26:37of diseases
26:38and Parkinson's
26:39was exhibit A
26:40embryonic stem cells
26:43can generate
26:43any cell type
26:44in the body
26:45including the dopamine
26:46cell that we were
26:48looking for
26:48when we discovered
26:50that stem cells
26:51could actually develop
26:53into this very cell
26:54that we know
26:54is therapeutic
26:55for the patient
26:56it was very exciting
26:57scientists hoped
26:59that the new cells
27:00would provide
27:00more consistent
27:01patient treatment
27:02than some of the
27:03earlier fetal tissue
27:04experiments
27:05but there was a catch
27:07embryonic stem cells
27:09are created from
27:10frozen human embryos
27:11left over from
27:12fertility clinics
27:13and creating the new
27:15cells
27:16destroys the embryos
27:17prompting intense
27:20controversy
27:20about the possibilities
27:21contained in a
27:23petri dish
27:23one key question
27:27was how federal
27:28funding for the
27:29controversial new
27:30research might impact
27:31diseases
27:32like Parkinson's
27:33will the elimination
27:36of the restriction
27:37on stem cells
27:38be a significant
27:39factor in expediting
27:41solving Parkinson's
27:42yes it certainly will
27:43it will certainly
27:44lead to a more
27:47rapid solution
27:48to this problem
27:48in the fall of
27:501999
27:50senator arlen specter
27:52convened a hearing
27:53on Parkinson's
27:54with a focused effort
27:55the pieces are in
27:56front of us
27:57the science is there
27:58i think we can make
27:59major progress
28:00towards this disease
28:02a series of experts
28:03testified about the
28:04scientific promise
28:05of stem cells
28:06perhaps cure this
28:07disease
28:08hope was running high
28:09that a cure
28:10was now within reach
28:11we are close
28:13to solving
28:14and i mean the word
28:15solving
28:15Parkinson's disease
28:16with a little bit
28:18of skill and luck
28:20five to ten years
28:21is not unrealistic
28:22that timeline
28:23had a particular
28:24impact on one person
28:26in attendance
28:27when i heard
28:28Parkinson's could be
28:29cured within five
28:29to ten years
28:30with the proper
28:31funding
28:31at once
28:32i knew two things
28:33i knew that
28:34wasn't going to
28:34happen
28:35but i knew that
28:36if it could happen
28:37if these people
28:38were saying
28:38that it could happen
28:40that's all i needed
28:41to know
28:41was that
28:43was that
28:43that the science
28:45was ahead of the money
28:46the hearing inspired
28:49fox to start
28:50his own foundation
28:51which soon became
28:53the leading
28:53independent funder
28:54of Parkinson's research
28:56but fox also knew
28:58that federal support
28:59for stem cell science
29:00remains crucial
29:01one year later
29:03just weeks before
29:04the presidential election
29:06of 2000
29:06arlen specter convened
29:08another hearing
29:09and we call
29:10ms jennifer estes
29:12ms mary tyler moore
29:13mr michael j fox
29:15this time
29:16he brought in
29:16some high profile
29:17advocates for a number
29:18of diseases
29:19to kick off the debate
29:21we do thank you for
29:23for joining us
29:25thank you mr chairman
29:26i'm one of a million
29:28involuntary experts
29:29on parkinson's disease
29:31in the united states
29:32battling its destructive
29:34nature as we wait
29:35for a cure
29:36please help us
29:37to not wait any longer
29:38than we have to
29:39we urge you to not
29:40let politics interfere
29:41and needlessly
29:42delay this critical research
29:44the hearing
29:45and the larger debate
29:46hinged on one question
29:48how we choose to view
29:50research
29:51that depends on
29:52leftover frozen embryos
29:53from fertility clinics
29:55once you have
29:57in vitro fertilization
29:57you've got all these
29:58frozen embryos
29:59100,000 i guess
30:00that are frozen
30:01they're just not going
30:03to be kept
30:03forever and ever
30:04and ever and ever
30:05they're going to be
30:05discarded
30:06so if they're going
30:07to be discarded
30:08is it more ethical
30:10and moral
30:11than to use these
30:13in a method
30:14that might
30:15reduce human suffering
30:16than it is to discard them
30:18if these embryos
30:19are to be discarded anyway
30:21i know the argument goes
30:22then why not go ahead
30:23and use them
30:23we have prisoners
30:24on death row
30:25who are going to be
30:26executed anyway
30:27why not get some use
30:28out of them
30:29before they're dead
30:30all of this
30:31cheapens
30:32i think
30:33human life
30:34and our respect for it
30:36it's infinitely easier
30:37to lose tight of humanity
30:39if it's a little embryonic
30:40ball of tissue
30:42and to me
30:42it's not a full human being
30:44but it is more than
30:46a piece of appendix
30:47syndicated columnist
30:49charles krauthammer
30:50suffers from a spinal cord injury
30:52that might someday benefit
30:53from a stem cell breakthrough
30:54he supports most forms
30:57of the research
30:58but he too
30:59had moral concerns
31:00about that pinpoint
31:02of potential
31:02the fact that it has
31:05the potential
31:05to become human
31:07and if unmolested
31:08and implanted
31:09it will become human
31:11then it deserves
31:13a certain kind
31:14of respect
31:14embryonic stem cell research
31:17uses embryos
31:19that are fewer
31:20than 200 cells
31:22you can't even
31:24barely see them
31:26without a microscope
31:28time magazine columnist
31:30michael kinsley
31:31has parkinson's
31:32for him
31:34frozen embryos
31:35that would otherwise
31:36be discarded
31:36represent potential
31:38of a different sort
31:39there is hope
31:41you know
31:43real hope
31:44and
31:45and
31:46much of it
31:47comes from
31:48stem cells
31:49the battle lines
31:51were drawn
31:51but a final decision
31:53would have to wait
31:54there was an election
31:56to be held
31:57and the choice
31:58would now be up
31:59to the next president
32:00of the united states
32:01good evening
32:03the issue of research
32:04involving stem cells
32:06derived from human embryos
32:07is increasingly the subject
32:09of a national debate
32:10as the genius of science
32:12extends the horizons
32:13of what we can do
32:14we increasingly confront
32:16complex questions
32:17about what we should do
32:19in august 2001
32:21president bush
32:22announced his decision
32:24federal funding
32:25would be limited
32:26to existing
32:27stem cell lines
32:28no new embryos
32:29could be used
32:30a policy
32:31that created
32:32major obstacles
32:32in the search
32:33for new treatments
32:34there are many therapies
32:37very common
32:39in
32:40in
32:40chronic diseases
32:42of all sorts
32:43where there's an age
32:45cut off
32:46and if you're over
32:47a certain age
32:48you can't get it
32:50it could well be
32:52that when the big
32:54breakthrough comes
32:55I will be
32:57four or five years
32:59past that age
33:01and if that happens
33:03I'm going to be
33:04really annoyed
33:05at George W. Bush
33:08in particular
33:09the stem cell
33:11controversy
33:11would continue
33:12to simmer
33:13throughout the Bush years
33:14but by the summer
33:16of 2006
33:17a bipartisan
33:18majority
33:19in Congress
33:19emerged
33:20passing legislation
33:22to free up
33:23more funding
33:24we're going to see
33:25whether the first
33:26veto
33:26that the president
33:28of the United States
33:29makes in his entire
33:30political career
33:32will be a veto
33:33which will dash
33:35the hopes
33:35of millions
33:36of Americans
33:38but stem cell opponents
33:39including various
33:40conservative Christian groups
33:42urged President Bush
33:43to hold the line
33:44and one day
33:45after the Senate
33:46voted to ease
33:47funding restrictions
33:48the president responded
33:49this bill would support
33:53the taking
33:54of innocent human life
33:55in the hope
33:56of finding medical
33:58benefits for others
33:59it crosses
34:02a moral boundary
34:03that our decent society
34:05needs to respect
34:06so I vetoed it
34:08you know
34:09when you're talking
34:10about the potential
34:11to heal and cure
34:14so many
34:14and it not going forward
34:16because of his value
34:17as a wedge issue
34:18it pissed me off
34:21and I wanted
34:22to do something
34:23I just put the word
34:25out to anybody
34:25on either side
34:26of the aisle
34:26if they were pro
34:28and were on
34:28stem cell research
34:29and they wanted my help
34:31or welcomed my help
34:32if they wanted me
34:33to stay away
34:33I'd do that too
34:34but I was available
34:35how are you?
34:37good
34:37good to see you
34:38one key contest
34:38in 2006
34:39was the Missouri Senate race
34:41between Republican
34:42Jim Talent
34:43and Democratic
34:44challenger
34:45Claire McCaskill
34:46as you might know
34:48I care deeply
34:49about stem cell research
34:50in Missouri
34:52you can elect
34:52Claire McCaskill
34:53who shares my hope
34:54for cures
34:55what you do in Missouri
34:57matters to millions
34:58of Americans
34:59Americans like me
35:01but Fox's activism
35:03didn't please everyone
35:04he is moving
35:05all around
35:06and shaking
35:07and it's purely an act
35:09he just
35:10made me smile
35:11I was just like
35:12no really
35:13he really did that
35:15and then I realized
35:17that we're now
35:17in the last
35:18two weeks of the campaign
35:19and people are talking
35:21about stem cells
35:22as long as that happens
35:23I'm happy
35:25you can call me
35:26whatever you want
35:26Missouri went to
35:27Democrat Claire McCaskill
35:29the nation was watching
35:31and we showed him
35:33thank you so much
35:35Claire McCaskill won
35:37that pivotal
35:38Missouri Senate race
35:39and the Democrats
35:40claimed control
35:40of Congress
35:41but there still
35:43weren't enough votes
35:44to overturn
35:45a presidential veto
35:46and the funding
35:47restrictions remained
35:48in place
35:49for the remainder
35:49of the Bush presidency
35:51it has obviously
35:53slowed research
35:54in this country
35:54it's been
35:57I think a miserable
35:58time for everybody
35:59very sad epic
36:01in our history
36:01I think the president
36:05will always be remembered
36:06for having raised
36:07the moral consciousness
36:09of a nation
36:09about the moral issues
36:11and that's what his
36:12main contribution
36:13will be
36:14even if the issue
36:17of stem cells
36:18disappeared tomorrow
36:20I would judge
36:22George W. Bush
36:24quite harshly
36:25six years have gone by
36:29and you know
36:31those are six important years
36:34to people like me
36:36for example
36:37the Obama administration
36:41may soon reverse
36:42the Bush stem cell policy
36:44and scientific breakthroughs
36:45may open up
36:46whole new approaches
36:47less reliant
36:48on embryonic stem cells
36:49still
36:52Parkinson's remains a race
36:54between the disease
36:55and the clock
36:56back home
37:01in the Bay Area
37:01I met up again
37:02with Tom Shearer
37:03who I'd first gotten to know
37:05at the Parkinson's exercise class
37:07it was Tom
37:09who first said to me
37:10that this wasn't a battle
37:11he thought he could win
37:13reach
37:14look at your knee more
37:16good
37:17there you go
37:18what worries Tom
37:19and his wife Madeline now
37:20isn't so much
37:21the struggle to keep moving
37:22but the battle
37:24everyone dreads
37:25the one that involves
37:27your mind
37:27breathe
37:28one of the
37:30real major problems
37:31that I think
37:32almost anybody
37:33with Parkinson's has
37:35which is the memory
37:36aspect
37:37I don't know
37:39where that's going to lead
37:40there was a long period
37:43when Tom would go out
37:45and get lost
37:46and neighbors
37:48would call us
37:48and say
37:49come and get him
37:50he's at the corner
37:51of such and such
37:52I did get lost
37:54in downtown Oakland
37:56if you've lived
37:57in this area
37:58you really shouldn't
37:59get lost
38:00Parkinson's requires
38:03of all things
38:04a kind of gracefulness
38:06an ability to shift
38:08and adapt
38:09to change medications
38:12for what feels like
38:13the millionth time
38:14and still smile
38:15Aricept
38:17which makes you smarter
38:18so every now and then
38:21I steal one
38:22well it's much better now
38:24than it was
38:25when Tom was
38:26getting confused
38:27he's sharp
38:28he laughs
38:29he makes jokes
38:30for the Shears
38:32fighting the battle
38:33is about making adjustments
38:35I think this is just
38:37if you're
38:38filing electronically
38:39Tom used to be
38:41a tax attorney
38:41this looks good
38:43but Madeleine
38:43now files their returns
38:45okay lift your foot up
38:47that's it
38:49watching Tom
38:50and Madeleine Shear
38:50I think back
38:52to my parents
38:53the adjustments
38:54they made
38:55little things
38:57like the difference
38:58a shoehorn can make
39:00there you go
39:01and that even
39:02as speech
39:03becomes more difficult
39:04it still only takes
39:06a few words
39:07to sum up
39:08how best to face
39:09the future
39:09shoes on again
39:11yeah
39:12shoes on again
39:17the day after
39:20I got my diagnosis
39:22I began
39:23an exercise regimen
39:24mostly
39:26just because
39:27I wanted to feel
39:27like I was still
39:28in charge
39:29of my own body
39:30and the more
39:32I learned about exercise
39:33the more hopeful
39:34I became
39:35research at one location
39:38was particularly
39:39intriguing
39:39the University
39:41of Pittsburgh
39:42and the lab
39:43of Dr. Michael Zygman
39:44Parkinsonian researchers
39:47are sort of
39:48late in the game
39:49of being interested
39:50in exercise
39:50people interested
39:51in Alzheimer's disease
39:52have been studying
39:53exercise for quite a while
39:54people that worry
39:56about depression
39:56have been studying
39:57exercise for a long time
39:58I think it's generally
39:59understood that
40:00if you're feeling blue
40:01going for a run
40:02is a good way
40:03to deal with it
40:04so all of those things
40:06cognitive deficits
40:06depression
40:07and motor deficits
40:09all occur
40:10in Parkinson's disease
40:11if you're going to have
40:12Sigmund suspects
40:13the connection
40:13between exercise
40:14and Parkinson's
40:16goes way back
40:17in time
40:17it was probably
40:19not so many
40:20generations ago
40:21that our forebearers
40:23were much more active
40:24than you and I are
40:26the species
40:28that we evolved from
40:29probably spent
40:30a great deal
40:30of time
40:31running away
40:33so we wouldn't
40:34be prey
40:35or running after
40:36so we would get prey
40:37we don't do that
40:39anymore
40:39and could the fact
40:41that we exercise
40:42less
40:43while living
40:44in a more toxic
40:45environment
40:45be another indicator
40:47that modern life
40:48is making matters worse
40:50it's ironic
40:52that they go
40:53hand in hand
40:54more toxins
40:54less exercise
40:55or to put it
40:58the other way around
40:58would more exercise
41:00mean less Parkinson's
41:02the answer
41:03to that question
41:04may come
41:04from a surprising source
41:06we're probably
41:09the only lab
41:10in the world
41:10that runs monkeys
41:11on treadmills
41:12so it is not
41:13an everyday occurrence
41:15to test the impact
41:17of exercise
41:18on Parkinson's
41:19the University of Pittsburgh's
41:20Dr. Judy Cameron
41:21has divided monkeys
41:23into two groups
41:24the runners
41:25and the watchers
41:26the running monkeys
41:29train for three months
41:30the watchers
41:32well
41:33they just watch
41:34and then both groups
41:35are injected
41:36with the toxin
41:37MPTP
41:38the same toxic substance
41:40that caused
41:41instant Parkinson's
41:42in the frozen attics
41:44what we're seeing
41:46is monkeys
41:47that have run
41:48on the treadmill
41:49have very little effect
41:52of the MPTP
41:52they're still able
41:54to use the side
41:56in which they receive
41:58the injection
41:59and they can use
42:01it very normally
42:01the monkeys
42:03that are running
42:05look very different
42:06from the sedentary controls
42:07the sedentary controls
42:09aren't really using
42:11their arm
42:11they're letting
42:12their arm
42:12hang down
42:14it makes us think
42:15the exercise
42:17somehow changes
42:19how the brain
42:20is functioning
42:20and protects it
42:22against damage
42:23everybody ready?
42:24ready
42:25ready
42:26to see exactly
42:27what's going on
42:28the animals
42:29are then given
42:30a brain scan
42:31the results
42:32proved to be dramatic
42:33it's a pretty
42:35massive lesion
42:36the MPTP injection
42:38has decimated
42:39dopamine production
42:40in the monkeys
42:41who watched
42:42but didn't run
42:43but in contrast
42:44the running animal
42:46the lesion
42:47is much less
42:48in fact
42:49in some of these slices
42:50it'd be hard pressed
42:51to know
42:51that there was a lesion
42:52at all
42:53right
42:53in fact
42:54while the MPTP
42:56knocked out
42:56dopamine production
42:57on one side
42:58of the brain
42:58in the sedentary monkeys
43:00the running monkeys
43:01were only minimally affected
43:03their dopamine production
43:05remained
43:05virtually normal
43:06so what we're finding
43:08is that
43:10when we exercise
43:11the monkeys
43:12on the treadmill
43:12for the amount
43:14of exercise
43:14that clinicians
43:15would recommend
43:16that middle-aged
43:17people undertake
43:18their brain
43:19is less likely
43:20to be damaged
43:21when there's
43:22an insult
43:22and that's
43:24the key question
43:25is what's good
43:27for the monkey
43:27good for you
43:28what I'm really
43:33excited about
43:34is to see
43:35how I do
43:35on the stress test
43:36at the end of this
43:37right well
43:38I'm gonna blow
43:39them out of the water
43:39just mark it down
43:41in your little pad
43:42Tom's gonna blow
43:43them out of the water
43:44Laurel Maryland
43:45resident Tom Manning
43:46is already a believer
43:47yeah here's a scanner
43:49he's had Parkinson's
43:50for seven years
43:51and at the age
43:52of 75
43:53he's more than willing
43:54to work up a sweat
43:55both on the treadmill
43:56and on the job
43:58the reason I keep working
43:59I don't need the money
44:01the last thing
44:01in this world
44:02I need is any money
44:03I keep working
44:04because it keeps me
44:05breathing
44:06it keeps me exercising
44:08I've got to be doing
44:09something productive
44:10the secret to Parkinson
44:12I found out
44:13and now I can't
44:14justify it
44:15scientifically
44:16but work
44:17helps
44:17Parkinson
44:18plain and simple
44:19you let us know
44:21actually
44:22Tom Manning
44:23may soon be able
44:24to prove it scientifically
44:25he's part of a major
44:28new study
44:28at the Baltimore VA
44:29and the University
44:31of Maryland
44:31your heart rate
44:32was wonderful
44:33and oddly enough
44:34Dr. Lisa Shulman
44:36says it's one
44:37of the first times
44:38the impact of exercise
44:39on Parkinson's
44:40has been evaluated
44:41maybe there's been
44:43a cultural perspective
44:44that has embraced
44:46pharmaceuticals
44:48and surgical approaches
44:49and has considered
44:51lifestyle changes
44:53to be very soft
44:54and not as worthy
44:56of study
44:58any pain in your legs
45:00or your arms
45:00or anything?
45:00no
45:01ok
45:01alright great job
45:03but it's not at all
45:05hard for me to imagine
45:06that the results
45:07of a properly designed
45:10exercise program
45:11are going to be
45:12more effective
45:13than many of the
45:15medications we have now
45:17here we go
45:18if time on the treadmill
45:21is as important
45:22as the pills you take
45:23it may be because
45:25exercise increases
45:26something called
45:27growth factors
45:28proteins that
45:29scientists think
45:30are essential
45:31to support the brain
45:32when your dopamine
45:34neurons grow
45:35very early on
45:36in development
45:37they require
45:38growth factors
45:39for nurturing
45:40if that neuron
45:42becomes damaged
45:43through Parkinson's
45:44disease
45:44it seems to become
45:45dependent again
45:46on that growth factor
45:48University of Wisconsin
45:50scientist Clive Svensson
45:52is intrigued by how
45:53growth factors might
45:54boost brain performance
45:56it's rather like the
45:58fertilizer for your
45:59lawn
45:59if the lawn looks bad
46:01you put some fertilizer
46:02on it and it starts
46:03growing beautifully again
46:04and growth factors
46:05are fertilizers
46:06for the brain
46:06essentially
46:07Svensson wants to
46:10surgically deliver
46:11growth factors
46:11to the brains
46:12of Parkinson's patients
46:13using stem cells
46:14because they're ideally
46:16suited for a stealth
46:17like role
46:18the idea is to
46:21design stem cells
46:22that make this drug
46:23put the stem cells
46:25in the brain
46:25and then they'll
46:26deliver it rather
46:27like a Trojan horse
46:28the brain accepts
46:29the stem cell
46:30because it's neural
46:31and it's going to
46:32integrate and migrate
46:33and get into the
46:34brain tissue
46:34Svensson's idea
46:38is still in development
46:39but clinical trials
46:41using another
46:41surgical technique
46:42have so far
46:43proved disappointing
46:44which points to
46:46why the treadmill
46:46retains a certain
46:47advantage
46:48with exercise
46:50the growth factor
46:51boost happens
46:52in-house
46:52no surgery required
46:54so one of the
46:55reasons that we
46:56are very interested
46:57in the possibility
46:58that exercise
46:59can be protective
47:00is that the
47:00actual release
47:02of dopamine
47:02is still in the
47:04hands of the nerves
47:05the nerves release
47:06it when they want
47:07to release it
47:08to the place
47:08that they want
47:09to release it
47:10into at the right
47:11concentration
47:12so in a way
47:12it's the most
47:13natural or holistic
47:15sort of solution
47:16I think so
47:17as a physician
47:18we really need
47:20something that will
47:21help somebody
47:22realize I can get
47:24back into life
47:24again
47:25maybe exercise
47:26is that
47:27for Tom Manning
47:31exercise is not
47:32only about getting
47:33back into life
47:34it's about
47:35staying in charge
47:36of it
47:36it gives me
47:38a goal
47:39it gives me
47:39something
47:40something that
47:40I can reach
47:41out for
47:42and to achieve
47:43I'm the captain
47:45I'm in charge
47:46of this ship
47:47and if it runs
47:48up on the reefs
47:49I'm going to get
47:50it back off
47:51the reefs
47:51I'm going to
47:52keep on sailing
47:53and so
47:57I keep running
47:5825 years after
48:03Bill Langston
48:03showed a potential
48:04link to herbicides
48:05we're still searching
48:07for definitive
48:08environmental triggers
48:09and therapies
48:13involving genetics
48:14growth factors
48:15and stem cells
48:16have big challenges
48:17to overcome
48:18which means
48:21that for now
48:22the central question
48:23remains
48:23how you live
48:24with Parkinson's
48:26and just sort of
48:27massaging around
48:28your forehead
48:28and into your temples
48:30and into your cheeks
48:32for Tom Shearer
48:33and some of his
48:34exercise class friends
48:35that includes
48:36taking up dance
48:37I will say my name
48:39with a gesture
48:40and then Evan
48:40will repeat
48:41once
48:42and we'll go on
48:42to the next person
48:43The class is led
48:45by David Leventhal
48:46and John Hagenbotham
48:47of the Mark Morris
48:48Dance Group
48:49John
48:49John
48:52Robert
48:54It's only ever
48:57a wonderful experience
48:59to teach people
49:00with Parkinson's
49:01to dance
49:02Tom
49:03Tom
49:06I teach a variety
49:09of classes
49:10oftentimes
49:11for professional
49:12level students
49:13and I can go
49:15to this
49:15high level
49:16class
49:18and
49:19there really
49:20is not
49:21any dancing
49:22happening
49:22and when I come
49:24to teach
49:25the Parkinson's
49:26class
49:26I'm seeing
49:28dancing happen
49:29Somewhat natural
49:31to
49:31They're there
49:33to express themselves
49:34They're there
49:35to cross a boundary
49:37That sort of
49:39unbridled
49:40enthusiasm
49:40and passion
49:43and free expression
49:44is really what I see
49:46in their faces
49:46and their bodies
49:47This is one of those
49:49very special places
49:50where that happens
49:51It's magical
49:53I mean life's the best deal
49:56we got
49:57It's the best thing
49:58we got going
49:59I'm really blessed
50:00I'm really lucky
50:02In his memoir
50:04Lucky Man
50:05Michael J. Fox
50:06wrote that he wouldn't
50:07go back to the life
50:08he had before Parkinson's
50:10No absolutely not
50:11and this is
50:12this is
50:12this is my experience
50:14It's asked so much
50:17of me
50:17that I never would
50:19have asked of myself
50:19So no
50:22I wouldn't change that
50:23You know
50:24I've written about
50:25kind of walking
50:27by a mirror
50:27and seeing myself
50:28all kind of
50:29pinched and shaking
50:30and hunched
50:32and
50:33and then seeing
50:34in the corner of my mouth
50:35go up and a smile
50:36Just think
50:37what are you smiling about
50:38But the fact that I can
50:42look at the world
50:43the way that I do
50:43whatever that is
50:45that made that happen
50:46I wouldn't want to
50:46risk changing it
50:47by changing anything
50:48that's happened since
50:49Parkinson's does ask a lot
50:52and so in the end
50:55it's how we answer
50:56that matters
50:57After all
50:59we were very very
51:01fortunate in our life
51:03and we lived a long time
51:05It goes without saying
51:09I'm still here
51:10but Bill had a good life
51:12We traveled
51:15we just did it
51:17I can't imagine
51:19to this day
51:21having had a better life
51:23The best thing to do
51:27and maybe the only thing to do
51:28is to keep looking forward
51:30and to
51:31value
51:32and honor
51:33and believe in
51:34those
51:35those friends
51:36and family members
51:37loved ones
51:38who
51:39continue to believe in you
51:42We usually think of time
51:45as the enemy
51:46but I've come to think
51:48that time
51:49is also
51:50an ally
51:50Yes
51:53the disease is progressive
51:54but so too
51:56is science
51:57and as we await
51:59those discoveries
52:00we have at our fingertips
52:03the enduring power
52:04of the human spirit
52:05to be passed on
52:07from one
52:08to the next
52:09I don't know
52:13what lies ahead
52:14but I already know
52:16there will be
52:16remarkable people
52:17along the way
52:18just as there have
52:20always been
52:20Welcome
52:21When I see you
52:25go out for
52:26hikes
52:27and walks
52:28I just think
52:30how great that is
52:33and how hopeful
52:34I am
52:36Me too
52:39And I
52:41think
52:42that there are
52:43things on the road
52:45that will make it continue
52:47I refuse
52:49to think
52:50any other way
52:51Me too
52:53This report continues
53:16on our website
53:17The day after I got
53:19my diagnosis
53:19Join the chat
53:21with correspondent
53:22Dave Iverson
53:23and Parkinson's experts
53:24I've been studying
53:25exercise for a long time
53:27Watch more
53:27of Iverson's interview
53:28with Michael J. Fox
53:30These people are saying
53:31that it could happen
53:33That's all I needed to know
53:34Learn about
53:36cutting-edge Parkinson's treatments
53:37and why solving
53:39the puzzles
53:39of this condition
53:40could unlock cures
53:41for other disorders
53:42Watch the program
53:44again online
53:45and join the discussion
53:47at pbs.org
53:52Next time on Frontline
54:05On September 16th, 2008
54:09All around the world
54:11money stopped
54:12My God
54:14We may be presiding
54:14over the Second Great Depression
54:16How did it happen
54:18And what happens next
54:20It's the economic
54:21equivalent of 9-11
54:22Inside the Meltdown
54:26The first in a series
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