(Karen) A few years ago, my Dad was a fit active man in his late 60s. He enjoyed riding his bike, walking, was a keen gardener, and played competitive pool and darts at the local club.

Then he started to fall over - people often thought he was drunk!
His vision worsened, he became irritable and began losing empathy for all those around him
Unfortunately that was the end of his cycling, and his competitive pool and darts  - to be fair, would you want to stand near someone with dodgy balance and vision whilst they were throwing darts! 😲

One of the early signs of problems was falling off his bike out on a family ride. So I have decided to Ride the 100 miles of Ride London, as I can still cycle, and he can't.  My wonderful friend Tracy has decided to not only keep me company whilst out training, but also to ride the event with me too! Neither of us have ridden bikes on the road before, so training is going to be fun. 😂

After a series of tests Dad was eventually diagnosed with  Progressive Supranuclear Palsy - that's a bit of a mouthful so I'll stick with PSP

My Family's knowledge of PSP was totally non-existent, as the relative rarity of PSP means awareness of the condition is very low, even in the medical profession. We'd like this to change and are spreading awareness as much as possible.

A Brief Guide to PSP
 
PSP is caused by the progressive death of nerve cells in the brain, leading to difficulty with balance, movement, vision, speech and swallowing. It is so called because it is

• Progressive - It gets steadily worse over time
• Supranuclear - it damages parts of the brain above the pea sized Nuclei that controls eye movement
• Palsy - It causes weakness

PSP is a rare condition - research suggests there are only around 4000 people in the UK living with the condition at any one time

Early on Symptoms may resemble those of other neuro-degenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Motor Neurone Disease, or Multiple System Atrophy. As a result many people are misdiagnosed.

There are no simple tests to diagnose PSP, but brain scans are used by neurologists for diagnosis as they help by excluding other conditions.

Like many of the conditions mentioned above, there is currently no cure for PSP.

Hopefully in the future research will lead to new treatments to stop or at least slow down the progression of the condition

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