It was first described more than 200 years ago by Dr. James Parkinson, specifically in 1817, in his essay entitled ‘ An essay on the shaking palsy’ , and since then, the description of Parkinson’s disease has not changed significantly .
This is defined as a multisystemic neurodegenerative disorder that affects the central nervous system and is characterized by involuntary shaking movements, rigidity, instability of body posture, among other symptoms. As Parkinson called it in his day, it is “agitating paralysis.”
However, despite the advances, the improvement in the quality of life of those affected and a long historical coexistence, this disease remains an unsolved mystery for the scientific and medical community, since both its causes and prevention are still unknown .
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that Parkinson’s affects 1 in 100 people over 60 years of age, although there is also a considerable percentage that does not reach this age range. In Spain, in fact, there are more than 150,000 cases and 15% of these are between 45 and 65 years old . Worldwide, the total number of affected amounts to more than 6 million people .
The disease is progressive and affects both men and women. One of the biggest complications that doctors face is the diagnosis of it, since the symptoms at the beginning are so mild that they become almost imperceptible. As described above, the patient will experience tremors, muscle stiffness, bradykinesia (slowness of movement, poor facial expression, micrograph, and manipulative clumsiness), and disturbances in balance, posture, and sleep.
However, that is not all. And is that the problems associated with the disease can be much more complicated. A survey by the European Parkinson’s Disease Association shows that depressive symptoms are almost as common (84%) as motor disorders (94%).
In 1997 , the WHO declared April 11 as the official day of the disease in honor of the birth of Dr. Parkinson, who in addition to describing it, also suffered from this disease. According to data from the Madrid Parkinson Association, this is the second neurodegenerative disease in prevalence and incidence after Alzheimer’s . There is no cure and it is estimated that approximately 20 to 25 new cases of Parkinson’s disease arise for every 100,000 inhabitants. Furthermore, about 30% of the cases have yet to be diagnosed. The WHO foresees , in fact, that in little more than a decade (towards 2030), the 12 million affected will be reached.
