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Dopamine is the chemical that sends messages to muscles in the body to tell them when and how to move. A lack of dopamine in the brain causes disorientation with nerve cells thus prompting movements in the body that are uncontrollable.

Parkinson's disease afflicts both men and women and it occurs in every race of people in all areas of the world. Studies have shown that the Caucasian population appears more susceptible to developing the condition than African-Americans or Asians but scientists cannot pinpoint accurately why this might be the case.

It is not known for sure what causes Parkinson's disease, in the majority of cases it is believed to be a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

Parkinson's is a progressive disease that greatly affects a person's ability to move and at present, has no known cure. Each year in the United States alone, approximately 50,000 new cases are diagnosed.

Parkinson's disease is thought of as a condition of the late middle aged, as the average age of onset is somewhere between the ages of 55 and 60. However many cases of "early-onset" have been identified in individuals under the age of 40 (an average of 5-10 percent) in the past couple of years.

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