About Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson’s is known to affect about 3% of the population of the U.S.  It is estimated that each year, 50,000 Americans are diagnosed with Parkinson’s, but accurate numbers are hard to come by, and with the aging of the Baby Boomers, that number is expected to double in the coming decades.  15% of the Parkinson’s population is diagnosed before the age of 50, and the number of patients with early onset (40 to 65 years old or younger), has risen in the last few years, and more than 2,500 people a year in this age range receive a diagnosis of Parkinson’s each year.  Today, one person in every 200 people will be diagnosed with this disease in their lifetime.   Today, diagnosis can only be made after symptoms become apparent to the patient and the physician and the Center for Disease Control estimates that nearly 40% of all cases go undiagnosed.  It is a disease that does not discriminate as to race or gender, attacking all equally.