Welcome to the ‘Guide to living with Parkinson’s disease’, produced by H Lundbeck A/S and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, in close collaboration with the European Parkinson’s Disease Association (EPDA).

This guide has been designed to answer the most immediate questions of a person diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease – providing information on the disease itself, as well as the many aspects of treatment and management.

Another very important part of living with Parkinson’s disease is keeping a full and active life while maintaining good communication with others. With this in mind, the guide contains hints, tips and tools to help in daily communication with carers, family, friends and children, as well as with doctors and other members of the healthcare team. These resources can be used every day alongside the other elements of the binder, such as the ‘Guide to healthy eating’ for keeping a healthy balanced diet, the daily diary, and the medication record.

In order to keep this booklet a handy size, it has not been possible to include advice on every aspect of life with Parkinson’s disease. However, where a subject is not dealt with in detail, the reader is directed towards other sources (books, websites, etc.) where more comprehensive information can be found.

We hope that you will find this guide valuable in everyday life, and that the combination of tools provided here will help you to maintain a full and active life following a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease.

Acknowledgement

H Lundbeck A/S and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries would like to thank the EPDA for their support in producing this guide,and for the expert advice, information and review comments provided by their committee members and associates. In particular, they gratefully acknowledge the help of:

Lizzie Graham (secretary general, EPDA) Svend Andersen (psychologist, PWP, Denmark) Gila Bronner (sex therapist, Israel) Heiner Ellgring (psychologist, Germany) Leslie Findley (neurologist, UK) Alison Forbes (PD nurse, UK) Mariella Graziano (physiotherapist, Luxembourg)	Carlos Guinovart Centelles (PWP, Spain) Peter Hoogendoorn (carer, The Netherlands) Carolina Hübner (PWP, Spain) Carole Ions (carer, UK) Tom Isaacs (PWP, UK) Jelka Jansa (occupational therapist, Slovenia)	Carole Joint (movement disorder nurse, UK) Ann Keilthy (PWP, Ireland) Jean-Pierre Lucas (PWP, France) Nan Millette (dietician, UK) Mike Robins (PWP, UK) Marian Segenreich (PWP, Israel) Branko Smid (PWP, Slovenia)
PWP=person with Parkinson’s disease