Page 3293 - Week 10 - Thursday, 16 September 1993

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MADAM SPEAKER, THIS WEEK, 13 TO 19 SEPTEMBER, IS PARKINSONS DISEASE AWARENESS WEEK.

PARKINSONS DISEASE IS A CHRONIC, PROGRESSIVE NEUROLOGIC DISORDER WHICH WAS FIRST DESCRIBED IN 1817 BY AN ENGLISH PHYSICIAN, JAMES PARKINSON, WHO DOCUMENTED CASES OF WHAT HE CALLED A "SHAKING PALSY".

THERE IS A RELATIVELY HIGH INCIDENCE OF THIS DISEASE: IT EFFECTS APPROXIMATELY 1% OF THE POPULATION AGED OVER 50 YEARS AND APPEARS TO BE MORE COMMON IN MEN.

PARKINSONS DISEASE IS MANIFESTED BY A NUMBER OF DISTRESSING SYMPTOMS WHICH MAY SIGNIFICANTLY IMPAIR THE INDIVIDUALS MOBILITY AND, EVENTUALLY, HIS OR HER INDEPENDENCE. SOME OF THESE SYMPTOMS INCLUDE TREMOR, LOSS OF BALANCE AND JERKY OR SPASMODIC MOVEMENT OF LIMBS.

A SUFFERER MAY ALSO BE PRONE TO SUDDEN UNEXPLAINED FALLS AND MAY EVENTUALLY BECOME CONFINED TO A WHEELCHAIR.

SLOWNESS IN INITIATING MOVEMENT IS ONE OF THE MOST DISABLING SYMPTOMS OF THE DISEASE. PATIENTS MAY EXPERIENCE DIFFICULTY IN RISING FROM A CHAIR, IMPAIRED MANUAL DEXTERITY, DIFFICULTY IN PERFORMING SEQUENTIAL OR REPETITIVE ACTIVITIES AND THEY MAY EXPERIENCE A FIXED FACIAL EXPRESSION.

THE PRECISE CAUSE OF PARKINSONS DISEASE IS NOT YET CLEAR, BUT IT IS LINKED TO NEUROLOGICAL DEGENERATION IN THE PATIENTS BRAIN. POSSIBLE CAUSES INCLUDE VASCULAR, INFECTIOUS OR ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS. THE DISEASE APPEARS TO HAVE A LONG COURSE PERHAPS 30 YEARS OR MORE, BEFORE THE APPEARANCE OF SYMPTOMS. THE AVERAGE AGE OF ONSET IS 60 YEARS OF AGE, ALTHOUGH ABOUT 5% OF PATIENTS ARE UNDER AGE

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