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New York, NY - Ashkenazi Jews More Prone To Parkinson's Disease New York, NY - People who carry a certaingene mutation appear to have a greater risk for gettingParkinson's disease and for getting it at a relatively earlyage, new research suggests. The study authors also found that because Ashkenazi Jews --those with an Eastern European background-- are more likely tocarry this gene mutation, this population may run an even higherrisk for the disease. An estimated 90 percent of American Jews areof Ashkenazi lineage. Study lead author Lorraine N. Clark, a researcher at ColumbiaUniversity, described her team's findings as "unique anddifferent." "We specifically compared patients who had an early onsetParkinson's before age 50 with patients who had a later onsetafter age 50, and also with patients with and without Jewishancestry," she said. "And we showed that mutations aretwice as common among early onset Parkinson's and also thatthey're more frequent among patients with Jewishancestry." Clark serves as an assistant professor in the department ofclinical pathology with the Taub Institute for Research onAlzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, as well as the Centerfor Human Genetics, both at Columbia University. The findings are published in the Sept. 18 issue of the journal Neurology Parkinson's disease is a brain disorder that affects 1.5million Americans, according to National Parkinson Foundationestimates. Approximately 60,000 news cases occur each year,striking men and women equally, usually over the age of 65. Rayilyn Brown Board Member AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson's Foundation [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn