Parkinson's Disease

Q - If a person has the beginnings of Parkinson’s disease but needs to continue to drive,  what would you recommend ?

A    As with many of these diseases the speed of progression and the severity of the side effects depends on the individual circumstances, but to help stabilise the tremors I have found the transferral to a small automatic is a partial answer. My reason is that every time the hand is taken away from the steering wheel the tremor can intensify and the control can be affected, but with an automatic the hands can be constantly kept on the wheel and the fine motor skills can be controlled. It is necessary to receive training on the transfer and to become conversant with the differences between the various systems as the speed of brain/physical function may be affected. For some, it is time to consider letting others take over the driving and if there is a partner who has little experience in driving, now is the time to develop those skills to prepare them for when they may need to take over the driving.  ( I have given similar advice to those with RSI  - Repetitive Strain Injury, but this disability is not normally progressive)

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