Parkinson's Disease Patients Rising Up To 30%

Parkinson's may have become more common over the past 30 years, with researchers saying that there has been evidence of an increasing trend of this disease. Considering that it takes decades to develop, it could be difficult to identify reasons for why there is an increase in the number of people affected by it.

However, Dr. Honglei Chen f the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in North Carolina said that if the trend is confirmed, scientists will have to take in environmental or non-genetic factors in considering the disease.

James Beck, the vice president of scientific affairs at the Parkinson's Disease Foundation told CBS News, "I believe this will be the first of several reports in the United States to demonstrate what the Parkinson's Disease Foundation has come to realize -- that the number of people living with Parkinson's is dramatically undercounted."

The participants who were identified to have parkinsonism if they demonstrated 2 of 4 signs: impaired postural reflexes, rigidity, bradykinesia, and resting tremor. The research led by Dr. Walter Rocca tracked long-term data on people in Olmstead County, and showed that the rates of Parkinson's disease nearly doubled in men between the years 1996 and 2005, with the steepest increase found in men aged 70 and above. However, no condition was seen in women.

Prior to these findings, research suggested that smoking could reduce the risk of Parkinson's, so the decline of smoking among American men, after peaking in the 1940s could lead to higher rates of later on.

However, authors of the new study emphasized that this theory has not been proven, and their findings will need to require further investigation, noting that the trends could be "spurious" and will have to be confirmed from other populations as well.

Serg Przeborski of the Department of Neurology at Columbia University told Neurology Advisor that the results are not very robust, and that it should be interpreted with caution as they may have been noticed only due to the increased symptom awareness, improved diagnosis, and even changes in medical coding.