Can we honestly give hope?

[pegleg]

I have a friend who is having a difficult time finding hope in his future. We have been having discussions about all of the novel therapies in trials now and those to be launched in the near future. He is a Vietnam veteran exposed to Agent Orange, but is convinced that his PD is a result of a beating several years ago that nearly killed him. There was a lot of head trauma.

My friend says he needs to know now if his neurons have been destroyed from the beating, if there is hope for him. He says even if something is discovered today, he won't live to see the therapy because of our slow approval system. He has even been suicidal. He is 65 and lives alone.

What would you tell my friend? I have told him about gene therapy, exercise, intestinal gel (Duodopa and others), and down the road treatments of the future. He doesn't think that we have any chance of restorative therapy.

What can I say to give him hope? I don't need long difficult-to-read answers - just clearstatements. Thanks
Peg