Parkinson's Disease

Conditions & Diseases: Brain & Nervous System

Introduction & Overview

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a chronic, progressive, neurodegenerative movement disorder which affects the substantia nigra portion of the brain (i.e., small black colored cluster of cells in the basal ganglia located in the centre of brain) leading to loss of dopaminergic nigrostriatal neurons, which are important for motor control. (1), (2) & (3)

About 1 to 1.5 million Americans suffer from the disease irrespective of race and the symptoms become most apparent in those 60 years and older. When symptoms of Parkinson's Disease appear in the age group of 21-40, it is called Young Onset Parkinson’s Disease.

Approximately 5 to 10 percent of PD patients experience symptoms before they are 40 and 15 percent before they are 50. In rare cases, symptoms appear before 18 years of age, wherein it is known as Juvenile Parkinson’s Disease. Generally, the disease affects men more then women (1), (4) & (5).

Conditions that produce the symptoms similar to that of Parkinson’s disease [such as tremors, rigidity, slow movement (bradykinesia) and poor balance] are known collectively as ‘parkinsonism’. When the causes of disease are unclear, it is called as Idiopathic Parkinson’s Disease (6).

Article by Kona Vishnu, MS
Medical Writer,
OmniMedicalSearch.com