CLEVELAND — Dr. Sara Whittingham is an anesthesiologist at Cleveland Clinic Marymount Hospital. Three years ago, she received devastating news: a diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease.
Always an athlete and an Ironman competitor, she thought she'd never run another 5K, but she was wrong.
She became part of research at the Clinic, indicating how exercise can improve the symptoms of Parkinson's.
"I do realize that not everybody is going to go out and sign up for an Ironman," Wittingham said. "I'm a little bit extreme, but I think it's important for people with Parkinson's to find an activity or something that they love to do and just go for it 100%."
Her efforts paid off and last October she competed in the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.
"Kona was awesome," she told us. "It was everything I wanted it to be."
Her mission was simple: Not only would she finish, she wanted to raise awareness about Parkinson's, give hope to those battling, and expose the fact that military Veterans are up to 10 times more likely to be diagnosed than civilians.
Whittingham is a U.S. Air Force Vet who served in Afghanistan. She had no family history of Parkinson's, but she did have history of burn pit exposure while in the military.
Burn pits are linked to several health issues among post-9/11 Veterans and were the reason for the passage of the 2022 PACT Act that provides health benefits to those affected. However, Parkinson's isn't one of the conditions linked to burn pits.
"A lot of us aren't receiving or aren't eligible for VA disability benefits because of current policies," Whittingham explained. "You can't get those benefits unless you're diagnosed while still on active duty or within that first year, and with Parkinson's, it takes 10 to 15 years after an exposure before you would get diagnosed."
She decided to do something about it, reached out to Northeast Ohio U.S. Rep. David Joyce to ask for help in garnering more research and to start an effort to get Parkinson's added to the PACT Act. On Thursday, she shared her story at Northeast Ohio Medical University in the "VITALS" series to help educate future doctors about the issue and discuss the importance of advocacy.
Whittingham hopes Veterans pay closer attention to potential symptoms of Parkinson's and apply for VA benefits now, even if they're likely to be rejected.
"I think it's still important to go ahead and apply for VA benefits, even if you haven't," she said. "And you will get rejected at this point, but in the future, if we are able to get this approved, it should backdate to the date that you originally applied for those benefits."
Parkinson's disease is recognized as a presumptive condition for Veterans of Korea and Vietnam who were exposed to Agent Orange and other toxins, but it is not recognized for Veterans exposed to burn pits.