The Woodland City Council declared April as Parkinson’s Awareness Month.

According to the proclamation passed during Tuesday’s city council meeting, Parkinson’s disease is a chronic, progressive neurological disease and is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the United States. It is estimated to affect approximately 1 million people and is projected to rise to 1.2 million by 2030.

“Parkinson’s disease is the 14th leading cause of death in the U.S., with an estimated economic burden of at least $52 billion annually, covering direct and indirect costs such as treatment, social security payments, and lost income for patients and their families,” the proclamation states.

Bernadette Murray, along with Gary Wagoner, Steve Briscoe, and Carolyn Van Hook, are members of the Woodland Parkinson’s support group that were present and recognized at Tuesday’s city council meeting.

“We are here tonight because we do want to raise awareness about Parkinson’s, not only to encourage people who have been recently diagnosed to know what kinds of resources are available for them,” Murray said. “They’re not alone. There are people that are, as we call ourselves, persons with Parkinson’s, and so with that, I will say, once again, just my deep appreciation and thanks.”

Murray shares that she is appreciative of the support from city council members for allowing the support group to meet the first Wednesday of the month at the Woodland Community and Senior Center at 1:30 p.m. She mentions there are exercise-specific activities, including Rock Steady Boxing.

“I’m so happy that you’re here to bring recognition to this very, very critical malady that a lot of people have, and not many people understand it’s the 14th leading cause of death in the United States,” Mayor Rich Lansburgh said. “I do want people to understand that symptoms of Parkinson’s vary from person to person. Everybody’s a little different, but nonetheless, the slowness of movement, rigidity, difficulty with balance, swallowing, shoeing, simple things that we take advantage of are difficult for people with Parkinson’s; whereas volunteers, researchers, and caregivers are really working diligently to continue the fight of this particular malady.”