did anyone realy know about parkingsons disease before muhamed ali? probobly not a lot of people understood it. Did anyone realy care and start paying attention to it until michael J. Fox took a stand? when he was diagnosed with it, we all went, oh, that's soo sad! then we asked questions about it and donated money. do you think that less-known diseases will get more attention if a familiar face is put in association with it? I mean, we all know how horrible AIDS is, but who do we know that has it? it's still an un-real, faceless epidemic. Am I making any sense? what do you think?
cheers,
KC

alright, celebrities do attract needed attention to certain diseases that plauge us, but our minds shouldnt be controlled by the media, we need to learn to think for ourselves, its our resposibilty to take steps in fighting diseases and political or social issues we cant wait for a celebrity to influence the millions of people dying every day should be influence enough

beatlesfan you are absolutely right. once someone famous puts their two cents in, everyone gets excited. it is almost laughable how malleable people's minds are. for instance, after the movie 101 dalmatians came out a ridiculous amount of people went out and actually bought dalmatian puppies on a whim. however they soon learned that unlike the talking, self-sufficient dogs in the movie, these real dogs required care and as a result many became homeless almost overnight. but I digress. the point is, an issue doesn't become real to us until we are affected on a more personal level. sure there's an aids epidemic halfway across the world, but as far as my life is concerned, the disease may as well not exist. when someone like michael j. fox steps up to say he has parkinson's, his adoring public becomes concerned since this is a man we all know and love. who would have thought it could happen to him. and that's when people may get scared. if it could happen to him...it could happen to us. this still isn't enough to provoke people's attentions to the extent a crisis of this magnitude needs, however this is what our job is. to get the issues out there and to convince people that this is something worth caring about.

Julia Roberts RRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKSSSSSS

Julia Roberts is doing a great thing by helping these babies. Babies are not only helpless but with that syndrome there even more helpless. So I think since we're al teens we should take action and talk to the govenment about this huge problem.

This is what I find sad. So many diseases are left virtually unnoticed, and then someone (such as Julia Roberts) gets involved, and one disease gets millions of dollars for research while the other ones still sit there...

I have Tourette's Syndrome, and my best friend could possibly have Huntington Chorea. Tourette's is not NEAR as bad (and not fatal) as Huntington, and it really is horrible that number 1, nobody knows anything much about Huntington (if they have even heard of it), and if people know about Tourette's, its the rarest form of it that has been portrayed on movies and such (uncontrolled screaming of vulgarities).

I guess what I am trying to say, is that no disease deserves more attention than another. We need money for research ...for AIDS, for Huntington, especially for the fatal diseases.

I am proud of Julia for taking a stand though!! Great going Julia...

In regard to BeatlesFan Post. I know lots of people with AIDS both in USA and in Africa. AIDS is like that though; you can't tell a person has HIV/AIDS. By the time they are badly sick, they are in the hospital or at home so you don't see them too much. I just went to an AIDS walk. I met a girl there who is 15. She has AIDS; she got it when she was born. All of the members of her family have died of AIDS. She is the last one left. She looks very healthy and happy. Yesterday she went in to the hospital for kidney dialysis. She had to have a surgery, then another one so she can start the dialysis. The AIDS drugs she has been taking have ruined her kidneys. I don't think she will live much longer. However, she looks forward to everyday of her life with positive regard. If you would like to send her a get well message from her surgery send it to me at: sashamde2@yahoo.com and I will pass it on to her. I think that would make her feel good to know that she is not as alone in the world as it may feel to her having no family. She lives with a foster mother who does not drive her to school. She has to get up at 5:00am every morning just to get the school bus at 6:20. I would like to raise the money to hire her a driver. Does anyone want to help raise money for her to have a driver? That will make her life a little easier. She is in grade 11 and hopes to go to college. Well we youths have to be very careful about HIV. About half of all new infections last year were in youths ages 15-24. Even in USA. In USA there were 45,000 new cases of HIV last year. Be careful, don't do drugs or drink cause it makes you do things you would not do otherwise, and don't have intimate relationships while you are young. Pledge to stay HIV free.

It sucks that a celebrity has to somehow be associated with a disease for it to get a lot of recognition. Seems that a lot of people will only care about something if a famous person cares about it first...

It may be good for a diseases public awareness to have a famous person associated with it but I wouldn't wish any disease on any person of fame for that reason.
There are actually a good deal of famous people who have died or currently have aids. For instance, Easy E, Magic Johnson (he only has HIV). I'm sure theirs others, I just can't think of them now.