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28th June 2008 - New research ONE OF THE WORLD'S LOWEST PREVALENCES OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE Movement Disorders [2008] Jun 25; [Epub ahead of print] (Dotchin C, Msuya O, Kissima J, Massawe J, Mhina A, Moshy A, Aris E, Jusabani A, Whiting D, Masuki G, Walker R.) Complete abstract The prevalence of Parkinson's Disease varies worldwide from 7 to 407 people per 100,000. For more information go to Prevalence of Parkinson's Disease. The prevalence of Parkinson's Disease appears to be low in sub-Saharan Africa, but little data exists. So the authors conducted a study of the prevalence of Parkinson's Disease in rural Tanzania. Crude prevalence rates were found to be very low : 30/100,000 (for men), 11/100,000 (for women) and 20/100,000 (overall). This makes Tanzanian women the second least likely group of people in the world to develop Parkinson's Disease. This is despite rural Tanzania having very low levels of healthcare. It is in stark contrast to the U.S.A., where, despite extensive healthcare, people are 30 times more likely to develop Parkinson's Disease. Tanzanian women also have the world's lowest ratio of women to men having Parkinson's Disease, with the women being nearly a third less likely to develop Parkinson's Disease than men. No explanation is given for such low prevalence rates of Parkinson's Disease amongst Tanzanian women. Source: Viartis Rayilyn Brown Director AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson 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