Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

World Parkinson’s day is 11th April and on this day, myself and my lovely friend Libby are planning to cycle 100 miles between us. This will be at David Lloyd Gym in Coventry who are kindly allowing us to use 2 of their indoor bikes for our challenge.

I received the diagnosis of Young Onset Parkinson’s in June 2022 aged 40. Although looking back following my diagnosis, it appears that I have had many of the symptoms for at least 10 years. It wasn’t until I developed one of the 4 cardinal symptoms (a tremor in my right hand) that any neurological link was considered and I believe that this is largely due to lack of awareness around the condition and also the widely held view that it generally only affects the elderly. I believe that there may be many younger people living with the disease but they are just not aware of it and may go undiagnosed for many years.

Since then I have done a lot of research and investigation into the disease and the many ways that it affects me and other who are living with it. I have discovered that diet and exercise, as well as medication are essential to help me manage the symptoms.

With no current cure, research into the disease and developing new treatments is vital.  Hopefully one day a cure will be found.

With this in mind and 2 years on from diagnosis, I am at a stage where I want to start raising awareness around Parkinson’s as well as fundraising for the charity Parkinson’s UK.

Parkinson’s is a progressive neurological condition. This means that it causes problems in the brain and gets worse over time. 

People with Parkinson's don't have enough of the chemical dopamine because some of the nerve cells that make it have stopped working. The nerve cells that die and lead to the development of Parkinson's are responsible for producing a chemical known as dopamine. Dopamine allows messages to be sent to the parts of the brain that co-ordinate movement.

With the loss of dopamine-producing nerve cells, these parts of the brain are unable to work normally, causing symptoms of Parkinson's to appear. The level of dopamine then continues to fall slowly over many years, causing symptoms to further develop and new symptoms to appear. There are over 40 symptoms of Parkinson’s and these can vary from person to person.

Around 153,000 people live with Parkinson’s in the UK. And it's the fastest growing neurological condition in the world. It is however generally considered an ‘Old Person’s Disease’ due to the fact that the majority of cases (80-90%) are over the age of 50

Please support our challenge by sponsoring us as much as you can to help fund vital research into causes, new treatments and possible future cures for this degenerative condition.

If you want more information around Parkinson’s, please visit their website

Parkinson's UK (parkinsons.org.uk)