Up to one million Americans have Parkinson’s disease. According to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, that’s more than the combined number of people suffering from ALS, multiple sclerosis and muscular dystrophy.
It tends to affect people who are over 60. You can inherit Parkinson’s disease. However, even if a close relative has it, your chances of also developing it are under 1 percent.
People often associate Parkinson’s with tremors. These tend to occur when you’re sitting quietly or resting. Other symptoms include:
- Slower walking
- Stiffness on one or both sides of the body
Treating Parkinson’s Disease
“Ideally, we would have treatments that both help the symptoms as well as slow or stop the disease progression,” says UVA neurologist Binit Shah, MD. Unfortunately, current medications help symptoms but don’t cure Parkinson’s disease.
In today’s podcast, Dr. Shah explains how these medications and procedures such as deep brain stimulation help with Parkinson’s disease treatment.