Parkinson's Disease - Description

Parkinson's disease affects about five hundred thousand people in the United States. It occurs with equal frequency in men and women. About fifty thousand new cases appear each year. The disease usually develops when a person is in his or her late fifties or early sixties. It develops gradually over a matter of months and years. A PD patient slowly loses control over the muscles that control movement. About 15 percent of people between the ages of sixty-five and seventy-four show some signs of PD. The rate among those in the age group between seventy-five and eighty-four is about 30 percent.