Parkinson's Disease - Introduction
Parkinson's disease may be one of the most baffling and complex of the neurological disorders. Its cause remains a mystery but research in this area is active, with new and intriguing findings constantly being reported.
Parkinson's disease was first described in 1817 by James Parkinson, a British physician who published a paper on what he called "the shaking palsy." In this paper, he set forth the major symptoms of the disease that would later bear his name. For the next century and a half, scientists pursued the causes and treatment of the disease. They defined its range of symptoms, distribution among the population, and prospects for cure.
In the early 1960s, researchers identified a fundamental brain defect that is a hallmark of the disease: the loss of brain cells that produce a chemical -- dopamine -- that helps direct muscle activity. This discovery pointed to the first successful treatment for Parkinson's disease and suggested ways of devising new and even more effective therapies.
Society pays an enormous price for Parkinson's disease. According to the National Parkinson Foundation, each patient spends an average of $2,500 a year for medications. After factoring in office visits, Social Security payments, nursing home expenditures, and lost income, the total cost to the Nation is estimated to exceed $5.6 billion annually.
