Parkinson's Disease Is a chronic degenerative disorder. Its cause is still unknown.
Average age of onset : 57 years.
The disease was first identified in 1817.
Approximately 500,000 Americans have been diagnosed with PD, and 40,000 new patients are diagnosed each year.
In many cases the general "slowness" attributed to old age, may be an early symptom of PD.
People in rural areas are at higher risk of developing the disease than those in urban areas, perhaps because of exposure to pesticides, fungicides or herbicides through contaminated well water.
There is also a microorganism in the soil -- Nocardia -- that may damage dopaminergic neurons. Other high-risk environments include regions surrounding petroleum plants and pharmaceutical manufacturing plants.
Epidemiologists have noted that most PD patients have never smoked, and at least one study found a marked increase in the incidence of the disease among individuals with a history of mumps compared with those who never had mumps.
PD is not generally regarded as a genetic disease, although patients may inherit a predisposition. Some 14% of PD patients have one or more first-degree relatives who have the disease or a related disorder, compared to 5% of controls. Onset before age 40 is more often associated with a family history. Parkinson's Gene |
