The question brings with it more questions rather than answers, but having been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease at age 49; just five years after retiring from the U.S. Navy Submarine Service, Don can not help asking the questions.
1. How many other submariners have been diagnosed with Parkinson's?
2. How many have been diagnosed a a relatively young age?
3. What environmental conditions might have contributed to or caused our Parkinson's?
4. What about the link between Vitamin D deficiency and PD? How would 36+ months of
submerged time effect the Vitamin D levels?
5. How might the geographical locations of sub bases contribute to low Vitamin D levels?
6. How might exposure to the amines used in the CO2 scrubbers contribute to PD?
The questions continue, but it is impossible to answer any of these until we can answer question #1 and identify those individuals and gather enough data to find any common denominators and perhaps, stimulate interest in further research.
If you, or someone you know has been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease and served in the submarine service or the bases or shipyards where submarines were maintained or serviced, please help us by leaving contact information with your comments below.
