By ARENA WELCH
Eagle Staff Writer

Two nationally recognized researchers hope to help the public break through the cloud of mystery surrounding Parkinson’s disease next week during a neurosciences symposium in College Station, officials said.

“Parkinson’s is still a disease with a lot of question marks around it,” said Tim Ottinger, a spokesman for St. Joseph Regional Health Center.

“Although treatment is advancing, it’s certainly not where physicians, scientists and patients would like it to be.”

Parkinson’s is a degenerative disease characterized by tremors, stiffness, slowness of movement and instability of posture, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Dr. Mahlon DeLong, a professor of neurology at Emory University School of Medicine, will discuss the current treatment methods of those afflicted with Parkinson’s disease, including medications and surgery.

Mark Cookson, a senior research fellow at the National Institutes of Health, will speak about what’s coming in terms of research into the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.

The public session will be from 10 a.m. to noon Friday at the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center at Texas A&M University.

The event will be followed by a symposium for physicians, scientists and researchers.

The free event is being hosted by the Texas Brain and Spine Institute, a collaboration of local physicians, health care professionals, scientists and researchers.

Dr. Jonathan Friedman, director of the Texas Brain and Spine Institute, said that the number of people diagnosed with Parkinson’s is increasing as the population gets older, so it’s important to keep up with new information in the field.

“We don’t have a cure, so any developments along those lines, even in the next couple of years - or 10 to 20 years from now - could make a dramatic difference in people’s lives,” he said.

To register for the public session of the symposium, call 731-1231.

• Arena Welch’s e-mail address is arena.welch@theeagle.com.