New Parkinson’s disease content for you
Tina unexpectedly received a diagnosis of early-onset Parkinson’s disease (PD) five years ago. She shares the story of her diagnosis and explores how having PD doesn’t need to define who you are.
Genetic counsellor Kira Dineen explains how it's possible for healthy people to pass on genetic disorders.
Genetic counsellor Kira Dineen explores some of the genes which can impact onset of Parkinson's disease.
Genetic counsellor Kira Dineen explains how nature and nurture work together and not in isolation.
Genetic counsellor Kira Dineen explains how we can all be unique when we share 99.9% of our DNA.
How can our genes reveal personalised treatment options? Genetic counsellor Kira Dineen explains.
Certified genetic counsellor Kira Dineen explains genetic risk and the role it plays in healthcare decisions.
PD Prevalence
PD is estimated to affect about one in every 790 people globally.
Higher rates of Parkinson’s have been associated with more economically developed countries with a higher average standard of living, however a conclusive reason for this has not yet been identified. [1]
Genetics
We are unable to provide a percentage figure for the heritability of Parkinson's disease, as it is not yet fully understood and is mostly unknown.
Heritability means how much of the differences in a trait (like height) within a group of people can be attributed to differences in genetics.
Something like eye colour has very high heritability (>80%), which means it’s almost completely determined by genetics. Something like a person’s first language has 0% heritability - as that’s entirely to do with their environment.
What it doesn’t mean is how likely something is to be inherited from a parent , as even if a condition had 100% heritability, and so was completely down to genetics, it might be associated with a dominant or recessive gene, or more likely associated with many many genes, which interact in complex ways and which are still being explored & discovered!
Main Symptoms
The signs of Parkinson’s disease are usually mild at first and develop gradually over time. [3]
Impacts
Parkinson's disease has been reported as the fastest growing neurological disorder in the world, with numbers doubling between 1990 and 2015. [4]
The majority of people with Parkinson's disease start to develop symptoms over the age of 50, with around 1 in 20 people first experiencing symptoms before the age of 40 [5]
These are the best resources we've found so far on managing and learning about PD . Please let us know if you have other and we'll add them to the list!
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