Hi Laura,
Thanks for replying. Having a debate about these points unearths more than if you simply do a search. It takes you in directions you had not considered.
I agree that if the possibility was correct. then you would not see a lot more people showing PD symptoms. Everything would be the same as we see today. Incidence of PD is a logaristic curve with age, hence the "proverb", If we all lived long enough, we would all ultimately get PD").
All parts of our bodies decay with age, and if the BBB theory holds water, then those people who started life with a more leaky membrane will simply show PD symptoms earlier. If your heart deteriorates before your BBB or whatever is the cause of PD, then you will die of a dodgy heart.
I was intending simply throwing in the question, but it seems the concept is more widely researched than I realised. I was more interested in seeing whether levodopa would extend the useful active life of a pensioner.
Assuming the possibility of old age being a form of PD, the pensioner is living out the last of his time in an "off" state. My thoughts were could he be raised to an "On" state with levodopa? He would not need to worry about developing dyskinesia, since he would probably have died before long term side effects arose. At least he would have pleasenter final years. A simple search got over 100,000 hits on Aging & Sinemet, so will do some digging.
Ron