World Parkinson’s Disease Day: Here is all you need to know

On the eve of World Parkinson's Disease Day, we share important facts and figures about this special awareness drive motivated to help people suffering from the condition.

Editorial Team | Published: April 10, 2019 11:07 am

6.1 million people were suffering from Parkinson’s in 2016 as compared to 2.5 million in 1990. © Shutterstock

World Parkinson’s Disease Day is celebrated every year on 11th of April, the birth anniversary of Dr James Parkinson. He is an English physician who first described this neurological disorder way back in 1817 in one of his research papers titled ‘An Essay on the Shaking Palsy’. This day is focussed on spreading awareness about Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and support new treatment and research initiatives across the world. In the year 1997, 11th April was marked as World Parkinson’s Disease Day by the World Health Organisation and the European Parkinson’s Disease Association (EPDA) jointly.

It is a neurological disorder that affects a vast majority of the world. According to a 2018 Lancet Neurology report, 6.1 million people were suffering from this disorder in 2016 as compared to 2.5 million in 1990. These figures are a call to action for sure and this year, on the occasion of World Parkinson’s Disease Day, the European Parkinson’s Disease Association (EPDA) has pledged to help young people with this disease all across Europe. It is pertinent to mention here that EPDA is the only non-profit organisation in the world with member organisations in around 30 countries.

RED TULIP AS THE SYMBOL OF WORLD PARKINSON’S DISEASE DAY

During the 9th World Parkinson’s Disease Day Conference which was held in Luxembourg in 2005, red tulip was chosen as the worldwide symbol for the disease. But why red tulip, you must be wondering. Well, the story dates back to 1980. In this year, J.W.S. Van der Wereld, a Dutch horticulturist who was suffering from Parkinson’s disease developed a particular tulip whose exterior had a glowing cardinal red and small feathered white edge. He named this tulip after Dr James Parkinson in order to honour this person, who was instrumental in shedding light on Parkinson’s Disease. The tulip is a symbol of optimism for those suffering from this condition.

EARLY REFERENCES OF PARKINSON’S DISEASE

An Egyptian scripture of the 12th century B.C., had the reference of a king who drooled as he grew older and the Bible also talks about tremour in its verses. Both are the symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease. Another mention of the various symptoms of this ailment is found in an Ayurvedic medical essay of the 10th century BC. It refers to tremour, lack of movement and drooling among other signs of PD. This essay also mentioned that the remedy for this condition was derived from mucuna, a tropical legume that is loaded with L-DOPA (a supplement which can increase the dopamine levels inside your body). PD is caused by the depletion of dopamine. Furthermore, Galen, a Greek physician and surgeon also wrote about a health condition which had many similarities to P. He mentioned about tremors that one experiences only during resting time, postural transformation and paralysis.

Post Galen’s reference, people had to wait till the 17th century for the next reference which was exclusively related to Parkinson’s disease. From 17th century onwards, various authors talked about various elements of the disease, preceding the description that was provided by Parkinson. Much like Galen’s reference, a Dutch physician named Franciscus Sylvius also differentiated other tremours from the one that occurs when you are at rest. Another physician from Germany, Hieronymus David Gaubius, elucidated festination, a gait disturbance caused due to less dopamine levels in your body.

John Hunter, a Scotland-based surgeon explained the disease in detail that might have paved the way for Parkinson to think of collecting and describing patients with Parkinson’s Disease. Following this was the pathology treatise of Auguste Francois Chomel, a French pathologist which included descriptions of abnormal movements and rigidity, normally experienced by PD patients. Notably, Chomel’s findings were contemporary to Parkinson’s essay.

WATERSHED MOMENTS IN THE HISTORY OF PD

There have been several ground-breaking developments in the field of Parkinson’s Disease, starting from the discovery of new treatments to celebrities coming forward to help those with the condition. Here are a few of those special moments.

1960: Invention of levodopa

Parkinson’s disease is comes in five stages and in 1960 Dr George Cotzias, an American scientist paved the way for levodopa drug which has the potential to address all the five stages of this disease. Dr Cotzias used the drug to treat a group of mine workers in Chile who were affected by manganese-induced Parkinsonism.

1987: Deep brain stimulation

One of the most path-breaking discoveries in the field of Parkinson’s was the development of deep brain stimulation (DBS). The man behind this significant discovery was Dr Alim Louis Benabid, a France-based neurosurgeon.

During a brain surgery that he was performing in 1987, Dr. Benabid witnessed a decrease in his patient’s tremours as increased the frequency of the electric probe he had inserted inside his patient’s brain. In the last phase of his career, Dr Benabid improved the technology further.

1996: The world got to know about Muhammed Ali’s Parkinson’s Disease

Muhammad Ali was undoubtedly the greatest boxer of all times who managed to overcome numerous battles during his time in the boxing ring. However, he had another battle to fight outside the squared-circle: Parkinson’s Disease. He was first diagnosed with the condition in 1984. However, it was not before the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, that the whole world got a glimpse of this disease in Muhammed Ali. Ali was one of the torch-bearers for the games and while lighting up the flame, he was seen shaking. He kept on working towards spreading awareness about this disease and till he died in 2016 at the age of 74.

2000: Michael J Fox Foundation was established

In 1991, a renowned comic-artist from Canada, Michael J Fox was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson’s Disease. He was just 29 years old back then. Seven years later, Fox talked about his condition in public and gave an update to his fans about it. In another couple of years, the actor launched the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research which has led to facilitate research and development of the condition. It has now become one of the biggest non-profit funding sources of Parkinson’s dug development around the globe. Throughout these years, the foundation has managed to provide a fund of more than 700 million dollars.

2016: Nobel prize for Yoshinori Ohsumi

A Japan-based cell biologist, Yoshinori Ohsumi, was honoured with the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2016 for his contribution in the field of autophagy (the process which involves the destruction and reuse of cell components). Oshumi’s work marks out the different forms of autophagy that takes place inside your body at one time. It is expected that his work will encourage the development of technology which could eliminate damaged protein inside your cells. If achieved, this can possibly put a brake on the progression of Parkinson’s Disease.

Published: April 10, 2019 11:07 am

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