Of all the disorders that currently affect people around the world, Parkinson’s disease is one of the most well known. With so much research and effort being put towards the development of a cure, the disease still disrupts the lives of 50,000 new people a year. This is a striking number that might shock people as they read. So what can you do to help further the cause against the terrible disease? It’s always starts with the facts. So let’s learn a bit more about Parkinson’s disease now.

At present, between four and six million people suffer from Parkinson’s disease around the world. Parkinson’s is a neurodegenerative disorder which slowly takes its toll on the brain. This means that people who suffer from Parkinson’s will live with the disease for twenty or more years from the time that they first begin to notice symptoms. How does the development of the disorder begin?It starts when cells in the brain become damaged, causing them to deprive the brain of dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical which is responsible for a variety of processes, one of them being muscle movement. When enough of these neurons lack dopamine, the motor function of a person becomes recognizably impaired. This is usually when the signs of Parkinson’s disease first begin to appear.

Now that you know more about Parkinson’s disease works, we can discuss what you can do to help. If a family member or loved one has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s, the number one thing that you must have is patience. Parkinson’s is a disorder that takes decades to progress which means that there is going to be a tough road ahead. As that road gets tougher over time, the person affected by the disease is going to rely on you for all their support. This is going to be a taxing experience that will drain your physical and emotional energy. You have to be strong and continue to help the person in need.If you want to take things further, one of the most important things you can do is spread awareness about Parkinson’s. No matter what size the scale is on, you can create a Parkinson’s awareness event that people will come out to in order to learn more about the disorder.

Start small by organizing the people in your community – you might even be able to get a guest speaker who is afflicted by the disease or works closely with it. This first-hand account of dealing with Parkinson’s will get people more in tune to what it is all really about, and make them much more interested in helping.

The most important environmental awareness event of the year is right around the corner. This Friday, April 22, millions of people from around the world will join together in an attempt to preserve the sanctity of our planet. Each year, Earth Day is supported by a different theme which people can rally behind. This year’s theme is “A Billion Acts of Green®” and it depends on YOU to make it happen.

So what can you do to participate? This first thing you might want to consider is Pledging an Act of Green. According to the running tally by the Earth Day Network, there are currently more than 96 million acts of green being pledged this year. In order to get involved, all you have to do is log onto the Earth Day Network website and say what you plan to do. Recent posts have included, “Recycled, reusing, re-purposing” and “Print only what I need”. The point of the Billion Acts of Green is to establish that power is in the numbers. One person cannot make a difference during Earth Day, but a billion people surely can.If you want to take things a step further, you can get out of the house this Friday and attend a local Earth Day event. How can you find the best events which are close by? By doing a simple search for the local Earth Day events, you can find the ones which you feel that you would fit in best with. If you live in the northwest United States, one of the best events to attend is the San Francisco Earth Day Festival. This free public event focuses on developing eco-friendly solutions to common environmental problems.

If you live near New York City, then Brooklyn’s Earth Day Celebration at Erie Basin Park might be more up your alley. This Earth Day event will feature live music from some of the hottest DJ’s in New York, as well as aquatic exhibits which demonstrate examples of what marine life could be if people were more environmentally sound.Finally, the most active way to honor Earth Day 2011 is by starting your own awareness event. This takes a lot of planning and proactive behavior, but it can result in a tremendous turnout in your community that may have been previously unexposed to the nature of Earth Day. One of the best ways to promote your local Earth Day event is by distributing Earth Day giveaways in your town. These items are usually made of eco-friendly materials and demonstrate the importance of recycling and reducing your carbon footprint. By educating the people in your town, you can start a grassroots campaign that will have a lasting effect on the health of the earth.

The effects of alcohol abuse are apparent in our society every single day. Alcoholics become addicted to the substance, and their lives are ruined as a result. People who are under the influence of alcohol also sometimes choose to operate motor vehicles, and cause drunk driving accidents as a result. Though the penalties for drunk driving have become stricter over time and support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous have been put in place to help people who are suffering, the problem of alcohol is still a major issue. This is exactly why Alcohol Awareness Month was created.

In order to make a difference during this important awareness event, you can attack the problem from several different ways. First, focus on the warning signs of alcohol abuse in co-workers, family, friends, or even yourself. You must answer questions like:

• Do you drink alone when you are in a bad mood?
• Do you ever set up to place limits on your drinking and don’t fulfill them?
• Does your drinking ever cause you to function poorly at work?
• Has your drinking ever gotten you in trouble with the law?

If the answer to any of these questions is “yes”, then you or the person of focus might need to get some help. Once you have analyzed all of your family and friends, you can put these questions out to the community during your Alcohol Awareness events. Teaching people how to be aware of the warning signs of alcohol abuse is always a major factor to preventing tragedies and restoring lives.

For the people who have been identified as alcohol abusers, there are things that you can do during Alcohol Awareness Month to help them out. You can start by writing down your goals for the limits that you plan to place on your drinking. It helps to keep a daily log of the number of drinks you plan to have, and the number of drinks that you have actually had. If these numbers match up on a consistent basis, then you know that you are making progress with your self control.

Some people are alcoholics, and cannot have a drink at all. For these cases, it is proper to recommend that t he person gets help by going to Alcoholics Anonymous or seeing a therapist. The sources of aid are always available – you just need to be strong enough to reach out to them.Finally, and most importantly, it is absolutely crucial that you do not get behind the wheel of a car after drinking. When you do this you are not only putting your life at stake, but the lives of other innocent individuals that had no part in your decision making. If you must drink, make sure that you go out with a designated driver or stay safely in the confines of your own home.

By perpetuating these principles throughout your area during Alcohol Awareness Month, you can be certain that you will make a lasting difference in our society.

Today, April 7, is World Health Day. Sponsored and developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), the 2011 World Health Day will focus on the theme of antimicrobial resistance. For those that were not previously aware, every year World Health Day comes out with a specific cause to focus on.This concept of targeting one specific problem works has worked much more effectively that the general promotion of world health in the past. This is due to the fact that the topic of health is so incredibly broad.A brief history of World Health Day is as follows:

World Health Day came out of the First World Health Assembly which was held in 1948. By 1950, WHO had decided on the annual date of April 7 for the observance of World Health Day. The overall goal of the event was to create an international focus for the topic of global health. For over six decades, World Health Day has succeeded in raising awareness for one of the most important causes on the planet.

As previously stated, each year the event focuses on a very specific goal to create exposure for. Past themes have included Emerging Infectious Diseases (1997), Mental Health: Stop Exclusion, Dare to Care (2001), and Protecting Health from the Adverse Effects of Climate Change (2008).

With the slogan “Antimicrobial resistance: no action today, no cure tomorrow”, supporters of World Health Day are looking to make a major difference this year. You can become a part of the awareness process today and for the rest of the year, simply by educating people about the cause at hand.

So, what do we need to know about antimicrobial resistance? First let’s understand what it means. Antimicrobial resistance occurs when a virus or bacteria begins to get stronger against a specific medicine over time. As these microbes develop a resistance, the drugs which were previously effective in treating the problem are rendered useless. The result is a tremendous amount of time and money that needs to be put into the development of a new cure, leading to a grave danger for a vulnerable public.

The point of raising awareness about the problem then is to bring to light the main reasons why drug resistance is so prevalent. Among these factors are poor drug quality, unfounded prescription use, lack of research, and neglect of commitment. It is surprising that most of these factors are manmade. The bright side is the fact that the problem which has been caused by inaction can be reversed by a concentrated focus on proaction.

The only way to alter the vicious cycle that the path of antimicrobial resistance is on is by spreading as much awareness as possible to as many people as possible. This means hosting World Health Day events in schools and community centers, telling your neighbors and co-workers, and leading by example. Once enough people have accepted that antimicrobial resistance is a major problem across the world that could possibly affect them, they will be much more likely to support World Health Day this year.

As the month of April begins, it is time to focus on a whole new list of awareness events which you can get involved in. The month of April is particularly interesting in that it focuses on some of the major players on the awareness stage. Sure, every single awareness event should be taken seriously and attempted with full force in mind. However, the events that exist in the month of April deal specifically with some international issues and problems that have gotten a tremendous amount of publicity for decades.

Let’s take a look at a few of these crucial April awareness events that will be taking place this month so that you can choose which ones you would like to be involved with.

1. Autism Awareness

Autism is a disease that affects 1 in 110 children, 1 in 70 of them being boys. Consider that fact for a moment, and how daunting it really is. With the advancements in science and medicine that we have had in present day, it is almost unfathomable that a disorder like autism can continue to have such a crippling effect on the community.World Autism Awareness Day happens to be tomorrow, April 2, however the entire month will be dedicated to the research of a cure. You can have a major impact on the outcome of an autism cure by spreading awareness in the month of April. The process starts with being informed about the facts as they relate to the disorder. Once you have educated yourself, you can then focus on educating the people in your community. Remember that if you get 55 people involved in autism awareness, one of them is statistically proven to have a child with autism (55 is half of 110 – two parents for every child).

2. Donate Life Month

When it comes to gaining exposure for a specific cause, what is more important than saving a life? That is where Donate Life Month comes into play. The main purpose of this very important awareness event is to enlighten people about the benefits associated with organ donation. There are thousands of people across the United States alone who are waiting on a long list for a kidney, liver, or heart transplant; many others are in need of some sort of body tissue.

By simply signing the back of your driver’s license, you are making the decision to donate life in the event that something unfortunate should happen to you. Of course, this is a personal decision that not everyone will be able to make. However, by leading by example, you can be certain that you have made as much of a difference during Donate Life Month as you possibly could have.

3. Stress Awareness Month

Stress may not be quite as imperative an issue as autism or organ donation, but it is still a major issue that needs to be dealt with. Since Americans lead such high-paced lives in a tension filled environment, it is pretty difficult to avoid enduring some sort of stress. In fact, according to a National Health Interview Survey, more than 75% of people deal with stress within every two weeks.We rarely have control over our external environment and the stressors that exist within in. However, we do have control over our internal selves and how we choose to interpret these unfavorable stimuli. During Stress Awareness Month, the best thing you can do is educate the people around you about the best ways to deal with stress. You can teach people how to use coping mechanisms in their lives that will release the stress; this will allow immune systems to become stronger and happiness levels to rise.