Parkinson’s Disease vs. Parkinsonism

Abstract

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative brain disorder that progresses slowly in most people. Symptoms can take years to develop, and most people live for many years with the disease. The symptoms caused by Parkinson's include an ongoing loss of motor control (resting tremors, stiffness, slow movement, postural instability) as well as a wide range of non-motor symptoms (such as depression, loss of sense of smell, gastric problems, cognitive changes and many others). Parkinson's disease affects approximately 1 million Americans, with another 60,000 diagnosed each year. Although the disease itself is not fatal, the complications caused by Parkinson's are the 14th leading cause of death in the United States. The average age of diagnosis is around 60, but approximately 15% of people with Parkinson's are diagnosed before age 50 and are said to have young-onset Parkinson's disease. Parkinsonism is a general term that refers to a group of neurological disorders that cause movement problems similar to those seen in Parkinson's disease, such as tremors, slow movement and stiffness. Under the category of Parkinsonism there are a number of disorders, some of which have yet to be clearly defined or named. Early in the disease process, it is often hard to know whether a person has idiopathic (meaning " of unknown origins ") Parkinson's disease or a syndrome that mimics it. Parkinsonisms, also known as atypical Parkinson's disease or Parkinson's plus, represent about 10% of all diagnosed cases of Parkinsonism (about 100,000 individuals). They tend to progress more rapidly than Parkinson's, present with additional symptoms such as early falling, dementia or hallucinations, and do not respond or respond only for a short time to levodopa therapy. Following are descriptions of some of the most common Parkinson's plus disorders. It is important to remember that many people will not exhibit the cardinal symptoms necessary for a diagnosis of a specific disorder and will simply be labeled " Parkinsonism. "