Assemblywoman Addie A.E. Jenne presented members of the Seaway Parkinson's Coalition with a copy of the resolution she introduced on the floor of the state Assembly earlier this year calling for April to be declared as “Parkinson's Disease Awareness Month” in the state.

"I'm grateful people in the North Country have established this support group in recent years. We have people diagnosed with Parkinson's disease out there talking about the disease and the issues they face, raising awareness about the disease and working to improve their own qualities of life as well as that of others diagnosed with the disease today and in the future. They are doing important work," Jenne said in a news release.

“Parkinson's Disease Awareness Month helps put a spotlight on the debilitating disease to help find better ways to prevent and detect the progressive neurological condition, providing effective care for the disease, and ultimately finding a cure,” her office said in the release.

Jenne has sponsored this resolution each year since 2012.

She says the occurrence of Parkinson’s disease is growing. In 2003, researchers at Washington University indicated that more than 13 percent of individuals with Medicare in the North Country had a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. Experts are predicting that the number of people in the world with Parkinson's will double by 2030.

The assemblywoman’s office said Parkinson's disease affects over 1 million Americans and a new diagnosis is made on average every nine minutes in the United States.

Parkinson's disease is a chronic neurodegenerative disease characterized by motor problems including slowness of movement, rigidity and tremor.

Balance and gait problems may occur later in the course of the illness. Common non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease include sleep problems, constipation, anxiety, depression and fatigue. There currently is no cure.

Jenne said the Potsdam-area support group benefits from being led by Dr. Rebecca Martin, a clinical assistant professor of Physical Therapy and Parkinson's Disease Foundation Faculty Scholar at Clarkson University.

"Her expertise is a tremendous benefit to the Seaway's Parkinson's Coalition and is another reminder of the valuable role the professionals at our colleges and universities in our region play in our communities on a daily basis," she said.

Martin’s research projects are primarily focused on Parkinson’s disease and education. Specifically, she is looking into gait and balance predictors in individuals with Parkinson’s disease, attributes of effective clinical educators, and assessment tools to evaluate the upper extremity following a stroke.

"Just going to one support group meeting provided me with a wealth of information. We're so fortunate to have someone with Dr. Martin's training and focus on this disease working at Clarkson and involved in the North Country community," Jenne said.

She said she learned, for example, industrial states in the Northeast have the highest rates of Parkinson's disease in the country.

While nationally, more men than women are diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, she said members of the support group suggested that might not be the case in rural areas like the North Country.

"It was anecdotal, but they suspected the numbers of men and women diagnosed with the disease in rural areas like St. Lawrence and Jefferson counties are more equal. That wouldn't shock me because traditionally women have been working right alongside men in our farm fields and factories," Jenne said.

She said she was concerned to learn, however, that many North Country residents diagnosed with Parkinson's disease travel long distances for care.

"I heard about people with doctors in Boston, New York City, Rochester, Burlington (Vt.) and Plattsburgh. I'm going to share that concern when I sit down with health care providers in the North Country to see if there are steps we can take to address that issue," Jenne said.

The support group meets at 2 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month at Clarkson Hall in Potsdam. The meetings typically last for an hour. For more information, email SeawayParkinsonsCoalition@gmail.com or call Martin at 1-315-268-1652.