My cousin, Anil Kunkerkar , called me from Mumbai. His brother in law had been diagnosed with PD. Anil said,” I have heard that you can cure Parkinson’s.” I was speechless, I had been trying to create an awareness against those claiming to cure Parkinson’s. I warned by writing and raising my voice for Parkinson’s literacy. Was this all in vain? Not hearing my reply, Anil asked, “Can you hear me?”
I replied, rising from my stupor,” Oh, yes yes ! I can hear you.” I explained that Parkinson’s cannot be cured. Yes, it’s symptoms can be controlled increasing one’s quality of life, etc etc . I spoke to him over half an hour. I also promised to send ‘ Parkinsons shi Maitripurn Ladhat’ (A friendly war with Parkinson’s) written by Shekhar Barve, which will be helpful clearing many myths and misconceptions about Parkison’s. Later I spoke to his brother in law, Dattatreya Mordekar and his wife also. They joined our Whatsapp group and I sent them the link to the group’s website. In an hour I was able to clear the misconception about me. I heaved a sigh of relief.
After speaking to Anil I became aware that this rumor had its roots in Belgaum. Earlier, there was another rumor,” Gopu Tirthali has become an alcoholic, he slurs while speaking and his hands tremble.” Those who knew us, were appalled at those who said so. We had taken this in good humour. This rumor had to be eradicated from the root. There was a lot of difference among those who were originally from Belgaum, since they had joined the Parkinson’s Mitra Mandal. It helped them to accept the diagnosis and live a happy life with it. This may led to distortion of facts.
Something good emerged from this. The whole group got connected to the Mitra Mandal. Anil immediately deposited a cheque for Rs. 5,000/- in our bank account. Not only this, the whole group came to Pune from Mumbai, to celebrate World Parkinson’s Day, held on the 9th of April. They went back with a lot of positive energy.
These days, many videos claiming cure for Parkinon’s are viral on Facebook and Whatsapp. Please do not believe those. I am writing this blog just to warn you against believing these videos.