Goldfinger actress Tania Mallet, the cousin of Bond Girl Dame Helen Mirren, has received tributes.
In the 1964 movie, the actress co-starred with Sir Sean Connery as James Bond as Tilly Masterson.
Oscar-winner In a statement, Dame Helen expressed her sadness over the passing of her cousin Tania.
She urges for a shift in how people view those with the degenerative neurological illness
Helen Mirren is advocating for a shift in perceptions about Parkinson’s so that patients are no longer mistaken for inebriates or forced to live in social isolation due to their perceived “weirdness.”
The Academy Award-winning actor wants awareness campaigns to help people recognize the 120,000 Britons who suffer from the degenerative neurological condition’s incessant uncontrollable motions.
During a visit to the UK, Mirren spoke exclusively to The Guardian about how a close friend’s 10-year battle with Parkinson’s disease had made her more aware of the challenges that the disease’s victims experience, including deteriorating physical impairment, mental pain, and, for some, social stigma.
The charity Parkinson’s UK claims that a UK postcode lottery in access to NHS support services for sufferers, such as access to specialized nurses and physiotherapy, is a “disgrace.” Mirren, who won the best actress Academy Award in 2007 for her performance in The Queen, demanded an end to this situation.
Without a doubt, she expressed solidarity for their campaign for fair access. “It’s awful that someone who lives 15 miles away has access to something while the other person does not.
“About 10 years ago, a photographer who has been a close friend of mine for 30 years received a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis. He is quite unsteady on his feet, uses a stick, has trembling hands, is having growing difficulty walking, trips over himself, and is unable to rely on his equilibrium. He has an extremely weak body. His life has been restricted, as has his standing in society.
Parkinson’s disease progresses gradually but unavoidably. That’s difficult to deal with it every day. People who have it struggle since they are never quite sure “Can I or can’t I accomplish this today?” That is what makes regular, everyday life increasingly challenging since, for instance, you can drive absolutely fine for five minutes before abruptly losing the ability to perform a task.
Due to a lack of public knowledge, some patients are mistakenly considered to be intoxicated because their hands or limbs may be shaking.
To see people staring at you and presuming you are inebriated must be the worst thing – simply awful, terrible, and so embarrassing, added Mirren.
Parkinson’s patients “are not some strange folks living on the fringe of human experience.”
The public needs to truly grasp Parkinson’s disease, just as they are starting to do with autism, she continued, adding that this is the most important thing.
“You know, autism was this strange, eerie, terrible thing 20 years ago, but now it’s much, much more understood. The same is true with Parkinson’s disease.
“The general public needs to have an honest debate about Parkinson’s here. People like my friend are just as valuable and significant as you, me, and everyone else, therefore they shouldn’t feel as though they need to hide from the public. That is terrible and absurd.
Parkinson’s patients needed to become no more strange to bystanders on the street than someone wearing a cast on a broken limb.
The physical manifestations of it are so different from what we already understand that we are still far from that, according to Mirren.
“We are happy that Helen Mirren is demonstrating her support for our Fair Care for Parkinson’s campaign and recognizes the need to shift attitudes toward Parkinson’s – among the general public, healthcare professionals, and in government,” said Steve Ford, chief executive of Parkinson’s UK. So frequently, people’s symptoms are misinterpreted and treated disrespectfully.
Parkinson’s UK is supporting a new investigation examining whether Parkinson’s patients might enhance their balance, coordination, and mood by playing Nintendo Wii video games, which will be led by psychologist Dr. Cathy Craig of Queen’s University Belfast.
The Wii can help people improve their movement, not simply their fitness, according to Craig. People say that their balance has improved, which helps them avoid falling, which is a common symptom of Parkinson’s.
Others discover that the Wii’s social aspects significantly boost their spirits and help them fight the anxiety and depression that many individuals with Parkinson’s endure.
Mirren works to advertise Nintendo’s Wii Fit video games.
