10:19am UK, Monday April 20, 2009
News presenter Jeremy Paxman has pledged to donate his brain to help find a cure for Parkinson's disease once he dies.
People are being urged to donate their brains for research (Pic: http://www.vjhive.com/) Jane Asher, the actress and former partner of Sir Paul McCartney, has also signed up to donate her brain - as has GMTV host John Stapleton. The stars are backing a drive by the The Parkinson's Disease Society which urges people to donate their brains to help find a cure for the illness.
People are being urged to donate their brains for research (Pic: http://www.vjhive.com/) Jane Asher, the actress and former partner of Sir Paul McCartney, has also signed up to donate her brain - as has GMTV host John Stapleton. The stars are backing a drive by the The Parkinson's Disease Society which urges people to donate their brains to help find a cure for the illness.
The society has around 1,000 donors on its books and hopes to double the number by the end of this year. Around one person in 500 is affected by the condition and scientists are calling for more brains to help find a cure.
Jeremy Paxman
Those with Parkinson's are encouraged to donate but experts also need brains from healthy people so they can compare their findings. The Parkinson's Disease Society runs a brain bank at Hammersmith Hospital in west London. Asher, who became president of the society after her brother-in-law was diagnosed with Parkinson's, said: "I've visited the Parkinson's brain bank and seen what fantastic work is going on there. "Now we need a greater awareness of the benefits of brain donation so that more people come forward to register with us."
Jane Asher
She also told the BBC: "They are absolutely all used and they are kept frozen, clearly, very, very, very, very, cold, so they last almost indefinitely and every one is used and treated with great respect, I have to say."
"For those who might worry about granny's brain being perhaps not used properly, they are treated with great respect and every brain really does help towards a cure. "It is one of those conditions that we really are on the cusp of finding a cure.
"When I say a cure, we are referring really to treatments becoming so effective at controlling all the ghastly symptoms of Parkinson's that it is virtually amounting to a cure." Every year, around 10,000 people are diagnosed with Parkinson's in the UK and one in 20 are under the age of 40.
Source:http://news.sky.com/skynews
Comment: Please register to the nearest centre..=)
Peace Not War!!!~~
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