“Be your own Parkinson’s expert. Read as much about it as you can. Look up the research (including the meaning of the obscure words!). Many GPs are not able to keep up with the latest research and developments in Parkinson’s. They don’t have the time—but often we do.”
—JOHN G., PWP
To put it simply, Parkinson’s is a disease that affects the functioning of a small part of the brain. It is named after an English doctor and writer named James Parkinson who first described the disease in An Essay on the Shaking Palsy back in 1817.
What happens in a person with Parkinson’s is that certain nerve cells in the small part of the brain called the substantia nigra start to degenerate. And when they do, a chemical in the brain called dopamine is lost.
Dopamine helps transmit signals, or messages, from the brain to different parts of the body. When dopamine levels are reduced and the brain can’t send signals as well, this causes problems with body movement. The resulting motor (movement) symptoms can include tremor, stiffness in the arms and legs, slowness of movement, and gait and balance problems. There are also resulting nonmotor (nonmovement) symptoms, which can include depression, anxiety, apathy, cognitive impairment (including dementia, most often in later stages), abnormal blood pressure swings, bladder dysfunction, sleep behavior disorders, constipation, and loss of sense of smell.
Studies have found that by the time symptoms appear, most people have lost anywhere from 40 to 60 percent of their dopa-mine-producing cells in the substantia nigra.1
The bad news about Parkinson’s is that it is a long-lasting disease that gets worse over time. The good news is that because the disease progresses slowly, it usually takes years before there is a serious impact on a person’s quality of life.
Below are some quick stats on who Parkinson’s affects.
• Though estimates vary (it’s difficult to get an exact number due to challenges in data reporting in some countries), currently the Parkinson’s Foundation lists the number of people living with Parkinson’s disease worldwide at over 10 million.2
• From 1990 to 2015, the number of people with PD doubled worldwide to over 6 million. Driven principally by aging, this number is project to double again to over 12 million by 2014.3
• Almost 1 million Americans live with PD (this is more than the combined number of people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, and Lou Gehrig’s disease).4
• Over 100,000 Canadians, over 100,000 Australians, and approximately 150,000 people in the UK are living with the disease.5
• Aging is the greatest risk factor for PD, and 60 is the average age of diagnosis.6
• 10 to 20 percent of people with PD develop it before the age of 50.7
• Men are more likely than women to develop PD.8
• Some studies have shown the disease to affect Caucasians more than African Americans or Asians,9 although the reasons for this may be more complex than just biological differences. More research needs to be done before we understand how ethnicity affects the likelihood of developing PD.
From 1990 to 2015, the number of people with PD doubled worldwide to over 6 million. Driven principally by aging, this number is projected to double again to over 12 million by 2040.