Epidemiology of Parkinson's disease

• Published in: Lancet neurology Vol. 5; no. 6; p. 525
• Main Authors: de Lau, Lonneke M L, Breteler, Monique M B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01-06-2006
• Subjects: Age Factors; Humans; Parkinson Disease - classification; Parkinson Disease - diagnosis; Parkinson Disease - epidemiology; Prognosis; Risk Factors
• ISSN: 1474-4422
• DOI: 10.1016/S1474-4422(06)70471-9

The causes of Parkinson's disease (PD), the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, are still largely unknown. Current thinking is that major gene mutations cause only a small proportion of all cases and that in most cases, non-genetic factors play a part, probably in interaction with susceptibility genes. Numerous epidemiological studies have been done to identify such non-genetic risk factors, but most were small and methodologically limited. Larger, well-designed prospective cohort studies have only recently reached a stage at which they have enough incident patients and person-years of follow-up to investigate possible risk factors and their interactions. In this article, we review what is known about the prevalence, incidence, risk factors, and prognosis of PD from epidemiological studies.