Please save this corrected copy of the Recap: I gave the recap for 1990 instead of 1991-- the States Statistics I sent previously are correct and for 1991 not 1990 as I typed--Sorry for any inconvenience. All Races and All Sexes: for the year 1991 Parkinson's Disease (332): 7,455 Paralysis agitans (332.0) 7,447 Secondary Parkinsonism (332.1) 8 (numbers after causes of death are category numbers of the Ninth Revision International Classification of Diseases, 1975). Definitation of Paralysis agitans: A disease of middle and late life producing a picture of rigid tremulousness, progressive in its course and marked by weakness, delay of vouluntary motion, a peculiar festinating gait, and muscular contraction, causing peculiar and characteristic positions of the limbs and head. While movement is slow, there is no true paralysis. The face appears expressionless, there is a general flexion attitude, the balance tends to be lost ( in a forward direction). Sometimes occurs following encephalitis lethargica; at other times is due to an unknown cause. SYN: palsy, shaking; Parkinson's disease. (copied directly from " Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary" Edition 16, page 1322). SECONDARY PARKINSONISM results from the loss of or interference with the action of dopamine within the basal ganglia, due to idiopathic degenerative disease, drugs, or exogenous toxins. (copied directly from "The Merck Manual", 15th. edition page 1422). CAUSE OF DEATH: Cause-of-death classification--Since 1949, cause-of-death statistics have been based on the underlying cause of death, which is defined as "(a) the disease or injury which initiated the train of events leading directly to death, or (b) the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury" (Copied directly from "VITAL STATISTICS OF THE UNITED STATES" 1990-Volume II-Mortality Part A Published by the U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics As Ever, Marjorie Moorefield just another librarian (with PD)