How Widespread Is Parkinson’s Disease?

The statistics related to Parkinson’s Disease can be overwhelming. Because misdiagnoses are so common, many of the organizations that regularly report health statistics caution that the real prevalence of Parkinson’s may be as much as 40% higher than is being reported. In addition, since Parkinson’s isn't an infectious disease, it doesn't have to be reported, which further hampers efforts to gather reliable data.

In general, it is agreed that Parkinson’s is one of the most common neurological diseases affecting adults over the age of 65. Diagnoses of Parkinson’s Disease in adults between the ages of 40 and 65 has increased in the past few decades, though as yet there is no attributable cause. Because of its relatively slow progress, a person diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease may live another 40-50 years, with increasing disability.

- One person in every 200 will be diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in their lifetime.
- One out of every 100 people over 60 in the United States will be diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.

- There are over 50,000 new diagnosed cases of Parkinson’s in the United States every year.

- There are 2.500-5,000 cases of Parkinson’s diagnosed in adults under the age of 40 every year in the United States.

- Parkinson’s Disease was responsible for 15,600 deaths in the year 2,000. That’s a rate of 5.5 per 100,000 persons in the general population.

- In adults over the age of 65, the death rate from Parkinson’s Disease rises to 43.6 per 100,000.
- Parkinson’s Disease was responsible for the deaths of 300 adults under the age of 65 in the year 2000.

- In 1999, approximately 9 percent of men and 4.3 percent of women admitted to nursing homes were diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.

- An average of 239,000 adults with Parkinson’s Disease are admitted to hospitals each year.

- Approximately 1% of the U.S. population over the age of 65 is diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.

- A survey presented in the British Medical Journal in the year 2000 suggested that the true prevalence of Parkinson’s Disease in the UK is approximately 200 per 100,000 about 2%.

- The prevalence of Parkinson’s Disease in the United States and Canada is estimated to be about 300 per 100,000 people, or about 3%.

- The Center for Disease Control estimates that as many as 40% of all cases may be undiagnosed.

- Parkinson’s is the second most common degenerative disease that affects the nervous system throughout the world. The most common is also age-related Alzheimer’s Disease.

- More people are affected with Parkinson’s Disease than with Muscular Dystrophy, Multiple Sclerosis and Lou Gehrig’s Disease combined.

- Because of the increased life expectancy, most government medical bodies believe that the prevalence of Parkinson’s Disease will rise astronomically in the coming decades.

The statistics for hospital admissions related to Parkinson’s Disease and related illnesses suggest that it will become a major cost to the health insurance industry in the coming decades.




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