Parkinson's Disease: Old Concepts and New Challenges

Abstract

It is highly unlikely that James Parkinson (1755-1824), who first described the paralysis agitans in his Assay on the Shaking Palsy in 1817 (years later rebadged by Jean-Martin Charcot as Parkinson's disease), could have imagined that the disorder that today bears his name would become the neurodegenerative disorder that, after Alzheimer's disease, has the largest impact on the elderly population. With a prevalence ranging from 35.8 per 100,000 to 12,500 per 100,000 and annual incidence estimates ranging from 1.5 per 100,000 to 346 per 100,000 in different countries, Parkinson's disease is a major age-related health problem. Meta-analysis of the worldwide data indicates a rising prevalence of Parkinson's disease with age (41 per 100,000 at 40-49 years; 107 at 50-59 years; 173 at 55-64 years; 428 at 60-69 years; 425 at 65-74 years; 1087 at 70-79 years; and 1903 per 100,000 at over age 80), that has a characteristic distribution by geographic location (a prevalence of 1,601 per 100,000 in patients from North America, Europe and Australia, and a prevalence of 646 per 100,000 in Asian patients).