This section was written by an actual epidemiologist. Imagine, something in PD not written by our lord Keith Bridgeman!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkins...e_epidemiology

Completely wrong again Wicksy. The first half of that Wikipedia article was written by me. Your ACTUAL epidemiologist wrote none of it.

The accurate parts of the second half were also written by me. I added the male dominance generally. Your actual epidemiologist knew nothing about the female dominance in Japan which I also added. Unknown to you, he wrote to me directly concerning it asking why I thought there was a female dominance in Japan.

The rest of the latter half, written by your actual epidemiologist is largely wrong, and as can be seen by the frequent [citation needed] signs is mostly unsubstantiated. The racial figures turned out to be contradicted by published research. The 2% of the population figure was not supported by any research at all. The incidence figures given are ridiculousy in error. They would mean that more people developed PD every year than there are people with PD !

You obviously care more about who has written something rather that what is written. What do you think now, knowing that what you have added was actually mostly written by me, and that the small portion of it that was written by your actual epidemiologist is entirely false, misleading or unsubstantiated. ?

Well, then again, never mind. Just passing through to order meds for a disease I have. Later.

Ah shoot missed him again ....bbbbbbbbbbbbyyeeeeeeeeeeeee

Greeeeeeegorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Hello everyone again, thanks for the info--still wondering how the statistics are compiled on prevalence of PD in the US--is it thru #'s of prescriptions for PD drugs? would not seem accurate, esp now with one of the dopamine agonists being used for restless leg syndrome. the Ali foundation in Arizona (i think) has begun a registry, though it is relatively new. I would think since the passage of the HIPPA laws that physicians are banned from reporting patients with PD if they are not required to do so. Just thinking while typing--I am guillty of doing that too often...continue to be curious about the statistics and how they are determined. madelyn

The methods used to estimate the number of people with PD are very varied around the world and even within the U.S.A.. Here are the methods of some of the more prominent research concerning prevalence in the U.S. :

1. Movement Disorders [2004] 19 (3) : 318-323 (Strickland D, Bertoni JM.)

They used a PDregistry in Nebraska All physicians were required to report PD diagnosis, pharmacists reported new prescriptions of anti-PD drugs (PD cases were confirmed later with the prescribing physician), and there was a patient self-report mechanism. The overlap of reporting by the sources allowed estimation of the number not reported by any source, using the statistical technique "capture-recapture."


2. Neurology [1985] 35 (6) : 841-845 (R.S.Schoenberg, D.W.Anderson, A.F.Haerer)

A need for prevalence information emphasizing racial differences prompted a door-to-door survey of all residents of Copiah County, Mississippi. The fieldwork involved a complete census and an extensive screening questionnaire inquiring about diagnoses, signs, and symptoms of neurologic disease. Residents who lived in institutions or had screening responses suggestive of epilepsy were requested to have an examination by neurologists who used defined diagnostic criteria.


3. American Journal of Epidemiology [2003] 157 (11) : 1015-1022 (S.K.Van Den Eeden, C.M.Tanner, A.L.Bernstein, R.D.Fross, A.Leimpeter, D.A.Bloch, L.M.Nelson)

Newly diagnosed Parkinson's disease cases in 1994-1995 were identified among members of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program of Northern California, a large health maintenance organization. Each case met modified standardized criteria/Hughes diagnostic criteria as applied by a movement disorder specialist.


4. American Journal of Epidemiology [1995] 142 (8) : 820-827 (R.Mayeux, K.Marder, L.J.Cote, J.Denaro, N.Hemenegildo, H.Mejida, M.X.Tang, R.Lantigua, D.Wilder, B.Gurland, et al)

The authors estimated the prevalence and incidence of Parkinson's disease in a culturally diverse community in New York City over a 4-year period (January 1, 1988-December 31, 1991) using a disease registry substantiated, for older individuals, by a subsequent survey of a random sample of Medicare recipients between January 1, 1992, and December 31, 1993.

How is the prevalence of Parkinson's determined in the United States?
There is no National registry; the Ali foundation has a self reported
registry and a couple of states do have registeries, though nothing on a
national level. How is the prevalence determined? thank you, madelyn

*************

It is extrapolated from a sample size, just like a survey of 1,200 most likley voters can predict the results of a presidential election with a 5% margin of error.

Yours, Hubert H. Fernandez

Hi, guys and girls. I found my way back here with Rosebud's and Steve M's help. Thanks!

On the subject of this thread; one reason for the absence of official registries may be that the only diagnosis for PD that [U]everyone[U] accepts is completed only at post-mortem. The pre-mortem typical signs and symptoms, along with the pathologic demonstration of Lewy bodies in the mesencephalon (midbrain) constitute the unequivocal diagnosis of true PD. As many of you know, it is still difficult to distinguish among the several movement disorders subsumed under description "parkinsonism."

(By the way, I had forgotten what a fun pain in the ___ Keith can be! Welcome to the US, Bridgeman. Are you really in NY? )
Robert

That's the nicest thing anyone's said to me.

No Robert, I'm not actually in New York. I'm presently posting from a high security prison in Guadeloupe where I'm serving a life sentence for cannibalism. I insisted at my trial that I thought it was Kentucky Fried Chicken, but to no avail.

I'm in Canada, and I think they use pharmacy records....how many people are on PD medications. Wouldn't that be a good indicator in the US as well?

Robert: Great to hear from you!

Keith: Did you lose your mother to PD? ... no obligation to answer, but if so I'm truly sorry.