9th April 2012 - New research

THE COMMUNITY WITH THE WORST PREVALENCE OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE

Neuroepidemiology [2012] 38 (3) : 154-163 (E.M.Khedr, G.S.Al Attar, M.R.Kandil, N.F.Kamel, N.Abo Elfetoh, M.A.Ahmed)  Complete abstract

Along the River Nile in Egypt has been found to have one of the world's highest prevalences of Parkinson's Disease. With a prevalence rate of 557 per 100,000 it makes Egypt the country with the world's second highest prevalence of Parkinson's Disease behind Albania. The greatest difference in the prevalence of Parkinson's Disease was between the illiterate and the literate, with a ratio of 3.93 to 1, especially in rural areas. This means that illiterate Egyptians in rural areas along the Nile south of Cairo are far more likely to develop Parkinson's Disease than any other community in the world, with a prevalence rate of 1,103 per 100,000. This difference is probably related to poverty rather than literacy.  In some of the villages south of Cairo there are only mud roads and open sewers.

Amongst those in their seventies, more than 7% of Egyptians were found to have Parkinson's Disease. There were far more people in rural areas with Parkinson's Disease, with a ratio of 3.2 to 1. Consistent with most other countries, there were more men than women with Parkinson's Disease, with a male female ratio of 1.7 to 1. Those with Parkinson's Disease were characterized by a high prevalence of mood disorders, cognition dysfunction and gastrointestinal symptoms. For more information go to the Prevalence of Parkinson's Disease. For a printable version of this article click here.  For more current news go to Parkinson's Disease News.

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