Earth Month and Parkinson's Awareness Month

Who are we when we work together?

When I was a kid, our Christmas tree was only in the house for a few days. We went up into the woods behind our house and dug a tree that we had spotted out on our many walks during the fall. Dad built a wooden bucket for the root ball. We gradually brought it in - from outside to the back porch to the living room. We’d hang our random collection of ornaments and a few lights, and right after Christmas, before the tree had time to get too used to being inside, we’d gradually reintroduce it to the cold. We re-planted the trees in our side yard where they grew in a gradually increasing row.

Mom and Dad cared about their environmental impact. We borrowed a tree from the earth rather than chopping one down. We had a huge garden and froze veggies for the winter. We had a big yard, but over the years, we planted parts of it with native plants to reduce the need for mowing. We made syrup from the bark of shagbark hickories.

I try to live up to their example. I recycle and compost and limit single-use plastics. Part of my position at the University of Iowa is supporting the Tippie College of Business’s Social Impact Community. We help integrate sustainability throughout the College. I’ve learned a lot in this position, and I often wish Mom and Dad were still around to give me advice.

Earth Day was still pretty new when I was a kid. It’s actually just two years older than me. The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970. Back then, Earth Day was fun. In fourth grade, we got a dogwood tree - the state tree of Missouri - to plant in our yard. Other years, I would peruse my 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth book, choosing an action to take. Since then, Earth Day has expanded to Earth Month - probably a good idea given the state of the environment. The challenges now seem so great that I worry that nothing I do will make a difference. We need systemic changes.

But taking individual actions versus making systemic changes is likely another of those both/and situations. As the Promise to the Planet website says:

Imagine a world in which every citizen made a promise to take one action to better our planet. Imagine 8 billion acts every single day - 2,920,000,000,000 acts every year. Would the world change? How could it not?

Individual actions are important. So this year, I have cut out my use of Ziplock bags in favor of reusable containers.

And it is also true that systemic changes are needed if we are to pass a livable planet down to our children. In his book, Management as a Calling: Leading Business, Serving Society, Professor Andrew Hoffman argues that systemic problems, like climate change, need systemic solutions. He suggests that business, government, and nongovernmental organizations must work together to create systemic changes to address climate change. It is not enough that I care about the environment. We need to work together at a systems level.

April is Earth Month, but it is also Parkinson’s Awareness Month. I remember the first April after I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. I was slowly learning more about this disease. I started with webinars about the well-known Parkinson’s symptoms - tremors and gait changes - and moved on to learn about all the other effects - mood changes, lack of motivation, anxiety and depression, hallucinations, pain, autonomic dysfunction.

Just like with climate change, I have agency. I can exercise and do physical therapy, stay hydrated and meditate, take medicine and go to psychotherapy. These actions may improve my quality of life and even slow the progression of the disease. But I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that even if I do everything possible, I can’t beat this disease. This week, after losing consciousness in a meeting and waking up to the faces of kind and efficient paramedics, I went back through what I had done that day. Was there something that I could have done differently to prevent the episode? Probably not.

And this is why, just like with like Earth Month, we all need to pay attention to Parkinson’s Awareness Month. I can slow the progress. My people can support me. But real progress requires research, like the work being done at the Iowa Center for Neurodegeneration. Their website describes the work that they do:

Funded by NIH grants, the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust, and additional philanthropic support, the Center for Neurodegeneration builds on significant progress University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics has already made on Parkinson’s disease research.

UI Hospitals & Clinics was selected in 2021 as one of only two Parkinson’s disease research centers of excellence in the United States to receive planning grants from the NIH. The new center will provide support and infrastructure for UI Health Care clinical trials involving the potentially groundbreaking use of existing drugs shown to reverse and prevent damage in Parkinson’s disease models

When people tell me they are sorry to hear that I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, I often mention how lucky I am to be in Iowa City, where my individual efforts to manage the disease are supported by a care team that is paving the way to new discoveries. I can’t do this alone. But when we work together, there are exciting advances. The researchers in Iowa learn from other NIH-funded research. Systems are created to work toward a better tomorrow. That is the promise of April.