A CAUSE and a cure.
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They remain the two most important, but elusive, goals in the world of Parkinson's research, according to Bathurst's David Veness, but he says there are still good news stories to be told.
Mr Veness, the president of Parkinson's NSW, has recently returned to Bathurst after attending the fifth World Parkinson's Congress in Kyoto, Japan.
He was one of about 3500 people at the gathering - including health industry professionals, carers and those who have Parkinson's - on the island of Honshu.
They do provide a benefit in helping hold the progression of the disease at bay.
"From my point of view, one of the important things discussed was the worldwide view that exercise will help people with Parkinson's - in terms of having a better quality of life by being fitter and being able to do more of the things they normally do," he said.
"Things that seem to be showing some benefit include dancing, singing, photography, music in all sorts of forms, poetry, ceramic art.
"Exercise, especially the physical part, such as punching exercises and all the other strengthening exercises, are accepted worldwide these days that they do provide a benefit in helping hold the progression of the disease at bay for a little longer."
Mr Veness, who has Parkinson's, said meeting people at the congress was important in his role with Parkinson's NSW.
"I've got to try to make contact with as many people involved with Parkinson's as possible," he said.
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A Parkinson's NSW research project with Charles Sturt University and the Mid North Coast Local Health District was featured at the congress.
"The research project aimed to evaluate the potential benefits of placing more specialist Parkinson's nurses in regional areas of need," Mr Veness said.
"It also assessed the potential to achieve significant savings in the NSW health budget while improving quality of life for people living with Parkinson's."
Mr Veness said the research findings, once made public, will be "very encouraging in terms of the savings we can make to the health system if we have [Parkinson's] nurses out there".
"That attracted a lot of attention from all around the world," he said.
Mr Veness said it is important to get the message out "that we can improve people's quality of life and save the government money".
He said one of his aims in his role with Parkinson's NSW is also to stop people who have the disease being in denial and "not being positive about what they can do to help themselves".