 |
 |
FYI from AP Wire Services (btw, does anyone know the legality of forwarding this copright material onto what I assume is a "not-for-profit" list?) Rich Thompson >Signs Of Parkinson's Common >06:02 PM Yesterday >Category: Domestic Keywords: Parkinson's >____________________________________________________________________________ >_________ > >^*1500< ^AP-Parkinson's<,0425< >^Signs Of Parkinson's Common<< > > BOSTON (AP) _ Symptoms similar to those of Parkinson's disease >have been found to be surprisingly common among older Americans, >afflicting perhaps one in five people over 65. > > Researchers also found that people with these typical signs _ >shuffling walk, tremors, rigid movements and extreme slowness _ >face an unusually high risk of death, even if they have not been >officially diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. > > ``It suggests these signs are important, and we need to pay >attention to them,'' said Dr. David A. Bennett, principal author of >a study published in Thursday's issue of the New England Journal of >Medicine. > > These symptoms are known as parkinsonism. While clearly not >rare, there have been few carefully conducted studies to see just >how common they are in the general population. > > Besides Parkinson's disease, the symptoms can be caused by >Alzheimer's disease, small strokes and a variety of other less >common illnesses. > > In the latest study, the researchers did not attempt to pinpoint >the underlying disease of the elderly people's shuffling and other >difficulties. While some of the symptoms almost certainly resulted >from undiagnosed Parkinson's disease, other health problems also >probably contributed. > > The researchers studied 467 elderly residents of East Boston, a >largely Italian-American, working-class neighborhood. The >researchers found that 159 had parkinsonism. Of these, 15 had been >told by their doctors they have Parkinson's disease. > > The risk of parkinsonism rose sharply as people got older. Over >85, half of the people studied had these symptoms. > > During nine years of follow-up, the researchers found that the >risk of death was twice as high among the elderly people with >parkinsonism. > > Dr. Robert Feldman of Boston University School of Medicine said >the frequency of the symptoms among the elderly people studied was >surprisingly high. > > ``These findings are very important because the hazards these >people experience as a result of these impairments put them at high >risk of falls and choking,'' he said. > > Bennett, a physician at the Rush Institute on Aging in Chicago, >said another study being conducted on Chicago's South Side will >attempt to learn more precisely how many elderly people have >Parkinson's disease. > > Parkinson's disease results from destruction of cells within the >brain that make the chemical dopamine. About 50,000 new cases are >diagnosed yearly in the United States. > > AP-NY-01-10-96 1702EST< > > >END OF FILE-> WIREREADY NEWSWIRE SYSTEMS INC. > >_________________________________________ >Copyright 1995, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved > > >