Yvon Jaspers is working on a television program about Parkinson’s disease. It is a personal project for the presenter, she says in the LINDA.vakantieboek. The disease was diagnosed in her 43-year-old brother Willem.
Parkinson’s turned her family’s life upside down. “My brother is admirably coping well with this diagnosis. He is positive and especially not pathetic,” says Jaspers.
According to the 52-year-old presenter, the news is “a very big thing to say”. Five years ago, her brother’s wife died suddenly. Jaspers is the guardian of Willem’s three young children. “My brother is living now. These are the best years. He is a great enjoyer of life and our whole family is like that – we can enjoy things very well.”
Jaspers says she feels “in a split”. She has made several programs about farming life in the past twenty years. At the same time, the presenter says she realizes how the use of pesticides in agriculture may be related to Parkinson’s.
“Pesticides, pesticides that are used worldwide in agriculture to produce our food and which we think are okay because their use has been approved, play a demonstrable role in getting Parkinson’s,” says Jaspers.
‘Maps show that Parkinson’s occurs mainly in agricultural areas’
For the program, she spoke with a neurologist from Radboudumc, among others. According to Jaspers, this doctor’s team has been researching the effects of pesticides on health for years.
“He showed me maps, from France and Canada, among others. They show that Parkinson’s occurs mainly in agricultural areas.”
It is not yet known when Jaspers’ program will be shown.