We hope you'll join our live online chat after the broadcast tonight. No doubt one question that will come up is whether or not we should be hopeful about Parkinson's. I've been thinking a lot about hope recently ... it's sort of hard not to these days, isn't it? And so in this last blog post, I'd like to say something about that four letter word.

Harvard chaplain and author Peter Gomes has written, "The only hope we've ever had is out in front of us, leading and guiding us to a place we've never been before." And that's essentially the challenge that's in front of both Parkinson's researchers and those living with the condition. We have to get to a place we haven't been before, and hope is central to what gets us there. No doubt we'll have plenty of setbacks on the road ahead ... no doubt there will be times when we feel the battle against Parkinson's won't be won.

But sometimes I think we focus too much on "winning" and "losing" the battle. And while I have no doubt that someday we'll find a cure for Parkinson's, I also recognize it may not be anytime soon. In the meantime, what we can do is fight the battle. And that's what gives me hope.  My colleagues and I have met so many dedicated researchers who stay up nights trying to solve this mystery. We've met so many people whose perseverance, adaptability and grace show the rest of us what it really means to win. I have hope because of all of them. I have hope because of my remarkable family. And I have hope because we can't afford to be without it. 

And don't forget -- we'll continue this conversation in our live online discussion following the broadcast tonight, beginning at 10 p.m. Eastern time. See you back here tonight!