The prevalence of Parkinson’s disease is increasing more rapidly than other neurological disorders, and is estimated to affect nearly 1 million Americans and more than 6 million people worldwide.
A new review in the Journal of the Medical Association (JAMA) co-authored by Melissa Armstrong, M.D., MSc, director of the Mangurian Clinical-Research Headquarters for Lewy Body Dementia at the Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases at UF Health, and Michael S. Okun, M.D., executive director of the Fixel Institute and chair of the UF College of Medicine’s department of neurology, titled “Diagnosis and Treatment of Parkinson Disease,” delves into the intricacies of the disease, including its various subtypes, diagnostic challenges, treatment options, prognosis and frequently asked questions.
“It’s a very interesting disease — they say if you’ve met one Parkinson patient you’ve met one Parkinson patient,” said Okun about the complexity of Parkinson in a JAMA podcast accompanying the review. “There are actually over 20 motor and non-motor features … and, believe it or not, the non-motor features are more disabling than the motor features.”