World Parkinson's Day on April 11, 2025

Every year on April 11, attention is drawn to Parkinson's worldwide during World Parkinson's Day. This is the birthday of James Parkinson. He became famous for his publication (An Essay on the Shaking Palsy) in 1817. This ensured that Parkinson's is internationally recognized as a disease. Parkinson's disease is named after James Parkinson. What does lily cultivation have to do with Parkinson's?

Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease, also known as tremor paralysis, or in Latin, paralysis agitato, is a complex disease in which the brain increasingly loses the ability to control your muscles. It can also cause other problems. The cause of Parkinson's disease is a deficiency of dopamine in the body. This is an important substance that ensures your brain functions properly. This substance is crucial for transmitting messages from one nerve cell to another. For most people, the disease only develops when they are older (between 50 and 79 years). There is also a group of people who develop Parkinson's before the age of 40. The disease is more common in men than in women.

(Since 2005, the red tulip used as an international symbol in the fight against Parkinson's disease. The flower was cultivated in 1980 by the Dutchman JWS van der Wereld, who himself suffered from Parkinson's disease. He named the red-and-white tulip the "James Parkinson Tulip" in honor of James Parkinson, after whom the disease is named. James Parkinson's birthday, April 11, is also the date of World Parkinson's Day. The disease is named after the English physician James Parkinson (1755-1824), who described the disease in 1817 in his essay “On the Shaking PalsySee the tab seal in the center above. In 1817, he wrote a publication in which he described shaking palsy. Palsy referred to the muscle weakness, and shaking referred to the noticeable tremor. Later, this condition was named Parkinson's disease. Parkinson's disease is one of the best-known eponyms in medicine, yet Parkinson received little attention for his discovery. It was not until 1912, when the American J.G. Rowntree wrote an article about him in a medical journal, that the discoverer of Parkinson's disease received attention. Jean Martin Charcot (1825 – 1893) was a French physician who is considered one of the founders of neurology and played an important role in Parkinson's disease. After earning a doctorate at the Sorbonne specializing in rheumatoid arthritis, he went on to work as a hospital physician. After several years, Jean-Martin Charcot returned to Paris, where he was appointed professor of pathological anatomy. He conducted extensive research into the anatomy and pathology of the nervous system and discovered the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He also demonstrated that multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease were two different diseases. Note the Luxembourg stamp with the tulip in the letter 'P'. The cause of Parkinson's disease is unknown. There is a certain hereditary influence and there are environmental factors, most of which, however, are unknown. In Parkinson's disease, all nerve cells in the substantia nigra, the 'black substance', disappear. That is why it is called a degenerative disease. Cells disappear for reasons that we do not fully understand. The black substance is a small area high in the brainstem. It is part of the extrapyramidal system. This degeneration results in a deficiency of dopamine, a neurotransmitter. This substance helps nerve cells transmit impulses to other nerve cells. Dopamine is important in the lower part of the brain, in the areas that help a person initiate and sustain movements. The first symptoms often manifest from the age of fifty. By then, only half of the substantia nigra remains, and the rest will also disappear. This makes the disease progressive.

Parkinson's disease has different stages; the symptoms you experience depend on which stage:

• Phase 1: unilateral phase: a large proportion of people in this phase suffer from movement stiffness and tremors on only one side; most people hide the symptoms out of shame.
• Phase 2: Bilateral phase. In this phase, symptoms increasingly spread, and concealing them becomes more difficult because movement stiffness and tremors develop in multiple parts of the body. All daily activities become increasingly difficult; multitasking becomes challenging (for example, walking), and talking becomes impossible. A person develops a masked face and experiences swallowing and speech problems. The symptoms of this phase may also appear later. Most people remain independent.
• Phase 3: the balance phase: all daily activities become increasingly difficult, more and more problems with balance arise, and they will therefore fall more often. These people are no longer able to manage on their own.
• Phase 4: Dependence: In this phase, symptoms become less and less effective or decrease, causing self-reliance to diminish and placing increasing pressure on informal care. Often, people in this phase are no longer able to live alone.
• Phase 5: disabling phase: eventually, Parkinson's can cause a person to lose their independence completely and become dependent on care; standing, walking, and maintaining balance become impossible. In this phase, you see a lot of freezing, and stumbling and falling are ever-present because they are, as it were, glued to the ground and fall. People in this phase spend the majority of the day in a wheelchair. In addition to physical symptoms, their memory and other mental states can deteriorate; furthermore, the disease can make them anxious.

A neurologist will make the diagnosis by asking questions about the symptoms the patient is experiencing and looking at the outward appearances the patient has. In addition, the neurologist will perform a few tests and a physical examination. The neurologist will also perform a brain scan to rule out other diseases. In Parkinson's disease, something goes wrong in the extrapyramidal system. This is the area between your brainstem and the cerebrum. The extrapyramidal system is responsible for:

• Spontaneous and effortless initiation of movements.
• Maintaining the automatic progression of repetitive movements, such as chewing.
• Flexible muscles
• Suppressing useless movements.

In Parkinson's, an error occurs in this area of ​​the brain. The cells in the area disappear. This is caused by a dopamine deficiency. This decrease in cells is called degeneration.  

Wim Crouwel

Wim Crouwel is no longer with us. Wim Crouwel, one of the most important post-war Dutch designers, created clear, seemingly simple work. He was praised internationally for it, but also reviled in his own country. He passed away on Thursday, September 19, 2019, at the age of 90. In the final years of his life, Wim Crouwel suffered from Parkinson's disease. Crouwel became known as a graphic designer for the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. He had his own design agency, Total Design, his typeface 'New Alphabet', and designed the telephone directory. Of course, as philatelists, we know him from his famous 'Crouwel stamps'.

Ode to Wim Crouwel: https://www.postzegelblog.nl/2019/09/23/ode-aan-wim-crouwel/  

Michael J. Fox

Michael J. Fox, stage name of Michael Andrew Fox (1961), is a Canadian-born actor who became primarily known for his role as Alex P. Keaton in Family Ties and as Marty McFly in the Back to the Future trilogy. He also played Mike Flaherty in the television series Spin City. In 1990, Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, although he did not disclose this until 1998. At that time, he played a leading role in the television series Spin City, of which he was also a co-producer. In 2000, he decided to retire as an actor and was succeeded in the aforementioned series by Charlie Sheen. Since then, Fox has been a fundraiser for stem cell research. He believes that this technology could help cure neurological disorders in the future. As a result of his illness, he had to give up acting in films and series and was primarily a voice actor in animated films. He made a guest appearance in two episodes of the series Scrubs in 2004. In 2006, he did have a guest role in several episodes of the series Boston Legal, which earned him an Emmy nomination. In 2011, he appeared 'as himself' in the series Curb Your Enthusiasm. For his advocacy for disease research, Fox was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Biden in January 2025, the highest honor an American citizen can receive. As a well-known Canadian, Michael J. Fox is praised for his dedication to Parkinson's disease research and his work as an actor in both television and film.  

Lily cultivation and use of pesticides

Residents living near lily fields are concerned. Many pesticides are used in lily cultivation, which can pose health risks. Over the past year, local residents in various locations in the Netherlands took legal action. They attempted to prevent new lily cultivation or to force growers to limit the use of pesticides. In some places, the judge ruled in favor of the residents, but is the judge not doing what the government should actually be doing: protecting residents from health risks and providing clarity on what growers are and are not allowed to do? (Source: Pointer.kro-ncrv.nl) More research is needed into the consequences for nature of the use of plant protection products in lily cultivation. Based on the available research, it cannot be ruled out that these products have negative effects on Natura 2000 areas. This is evident from a ruling by the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State today (2 April 2025).  

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Parkinson's Association: https://www.parkinson-vereniging.nl/ Conflict over lily breeding: https://www.parkinson-vereniging.nl/archief/bericht/2025/01/13/conflict-om-de-lelieteelt Lily cultivation: https://lelieteelt.nl/ Pesticide-Free Day, April 11, 2025: https://www.parkinson-vereniging.nl/pesticidevrij-dag Council of State, 2 April 2025: https://www.raadvanstate.nl/actueel/nieuws/april/meer-onderzoek-gewasbeschermingsmiddelen/ World Parkinson Day: https://worldparkinsonsday.com/