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Parkinson's group draws top speakers Henry Colen wants to attract speakers to the Rogue Valley who are on the cutting edge of research and treatment for Parkinson's disease. That's why he and others are holding the first of what is hoped to be a new, local support group for those suffering from Parkinson's disease, and for their caregivers. The first meeting is set for 3 p.m. Tuesday in the Deschutes Room of the new Skyline Plaza at the Rogue Valley Manor in Medford. For more information call Colen, 857-6182, Dean Winn, 857-6822 or Lloyd Flom, 857-6245. The speakers at this first meeting will be Len and E. Jay Greger, co-presidents of the Willamette-Columbia Parkinson Society, or Will-COPE. The nonprofit organization, headquartered in Portland, helps Parkinson's patients and their families with educational and support services that encourage development of coping skills. The former local Parkinson's support group fizzled out after the organizer no longer had time to coordinate the meetings. Colen took on the task of forming another support group, after moving this past winter to the Manor with his wife, who has Parkinson's. He said he has seen how beneficial and enlightening support groups and speakers can be from participating in one in the San Francisco Bay area. Colen said two kinds of groups can help Parkinson's suffers and caregivers. A smaller group in people's home towns gives them the chance to form close relationships of support, while a larger regional group can attract enough interest to bring in national speakers. Parkinson's is a degenerative disease of the brain that usually strikes in later life, characterized by muscular tremors and rigidity. More than 1 million people in the United States have the disease, and an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 are Oregonians. Also, the number of younger victims is growing. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA