California PD Registry - Mandatory reporting as of July 1 2018
 

California Parkinson's Disease Registry

"California Health and Safety Code (HSC) 103860-103870 requires healthcare providers diagnosing or providing treatment to Parkinson's disease patients to report each case of Parkinson's disease to CDPH beginning July 1, 2018. The California Parkinson's Disease Registry (CPDR) will be a statewide population-based registry that will be used to measure the incidence and prevalence of Parkinson's disease.

Surprisingly, little is known about how Parkinson's Disease is distributed among different population groups and whether the patterns of disease are changing over time. California's large and diverse population makes it ideal for providing important information about this disease. CPDR will greatly expand our understanding of Parkinson's disease and ultimately improve the lives of those affected."

Dan

This is good news. It should have a large impact on our understanding of how PD is distributed, and this may give us clues as to the aetiology of Parkinson's.

For our present understanding, see the paper by Willis et al., 2010:
"Geographic and Ethnic Variation in Parkinson Disease: A Population-Based Study of US Medicare Beneficiaries"
Geographic and Ethnic Variation in Parkinson Disease: A Population-Based Study of US Medicare Beneficiaries

The maps, at county level, are especially interesting.

John