Jacquelin Perry, Pioneer Orthopedic Surgeon and Polio Expert, Dies At 94 Of Parkinson's Disease

After a battle with Parkinson's disease, 94-year-old Jacquelin Perry dies in her Downey California home. The announcement of Perry's death came from Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, where Doctor Jaquelin Perry worked for over 60 years.

Perry was 10-years-old when she decided she wanted to become a doctor, and was the first female orthopedic surgeon to graduate from the University of California San Francisco.

Perry was an expert on the human gait. She helped patients with abnormal gaits to walk and was a pioneer in helping patients crippled by polio to regain some movement.

In the 1950's, she developed the spinal fusion technique in order to help those patients with polio.  She wrote a textbook, "Gait Analysis," which is still used today.

Dr. Perry helped those with polio, a contagious viral infection that can cause paralysis, breathing difficulty and death.

There is no cure for polio, according to medicalnewstoday.com, but thanks to vaccines it has been "eradicated" in the United States and most of the world since 1979.

Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only three countries left in the world whose citizens can still contract the disease, this because the disease is easily spread in areas with poor sanitation.

Dr. Perry died of Parkinson's disease, which can affect the way you move when there is a problem with nerve cells in the brain. Parkinson's is a progressive disease according to webmd.com, meaning the disease will get worse over time.

Like polio, there is no cure for Parkinson's, but treatments can help patients live full lives. Symptoms may include tremors, stiff muscles, slow movement, and problems with balance and walking.

Actor Michael J Fox of 'Back to the Future' fame also has Parkinson's disease. He started the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's research and has been living with the disease since 1990.