This comes roughly five years after he announced he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD).

Within 25 years, the world can expect to see a 112% increase in the number of people living with Parkinson’s since 2021.

A new report in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) links population growth and longer predicted lifespans as two main causes for an expected 25 million patients with Parkinson’s across the globe by 2050.

What is Parkinson's disease? 

“Parkinson’s disease is a movement disorder which causes a person to move less. It happens because the brain is not making enough dopamine, which is the neurotransmitter required for movement,” says Kavya Moravineni, a movement disorders neurologist with OSF HealthCare Illinois Neurological Institute (INI). “Our movement circuits in the brain use dopamine and cause voluntary movement.”

Dr. Moravineni wasn’t shocked to see the estimate in the BMJ. Parkinson's is a neurodegenerative disease, which coincides with natural aging. So, as life expectancy increases, the incidence naturally increases. Additionally, Dr. Moravineni believes there has been increased awareness, and in turn, increased diagnoses of Parkinson's. People are seeking out medical attention earlier as they recognize the symptoms, especially if they have a family history of PD.

Symptoms of Parkinson’s

“Tremor is the most common one. That’s what brings attention to see that something is wrong here,” Dr. Moravineni says. “Patients can have stiffness in their limbs, primarily in their muscles, and they can have problems walking. The typical dragging feet or not moving their arms as much when they’re walking. Stooped posture is another one.”

However, patients can have other symptoms which they don’t initially attribute to something like Parkinson’s disease. This can be the loss of sense of smell, dizziness upon standing or longstanding history of constipation. Sometimes anxiety or acting out your dreams at night can be longstanding symptoms.

The first step, Dr. Moravineni says, is to get a diagnosis. Next would be to decide how to manage the disease. The medical team at OSF INI offers different medication options, as well as discussing different surgical options. One example is deep brain stimulation (DBS).

What is deep brain stimulation? 

"It's an implant that's going into your brain. The idea is that we're using electricity to help with symptoms," Dr. Moravineni says. "To put it simply, the leads that go into the brain will pass electricity into the tissue and neurons. This negates abnormal signaling causing symptoms, so it improves symptoms."

Why deep brain stimulation can replace medication:

"As the disease progresses, the need for medication dosage increases. With that comes side effects. In those situations where the patients are still responding to medications, but experiencing a lot of side effects, deep brain stimulation can help. It's replacing medication while still providing the same benefit," Dr. Moravineni says. 

It can be increased or decreased based on what the symptoms are doing. Younger patients are often "better" candidates for deep brain stimulation. Patients cannot be candidates if they have severe dementia or underlying psychiatric illness that has not been managed. Of if they don't have solid family support. Dr. Moravineni calls deep brain stimulation one of the "next steps" in the process. It is recommended patients have proof of responding well to medication. 

Supportive therapies (speech and/or physical therapy) are beneficial parts of the care journey. 

The Michael J. Fox Foundation says while the BMJ article does not fully articulate the growth of PD, it does shine a light on the need for a cure.

There's no great list of health tips out there that can prevent Parkinson's. However, Dr. Moravineni says a well-rounded exercise regimen can help slow down progression in Parkinson's patients.

Dr. Moravineni adds that there have been increasing amounts of evidence indicating a connection between neurologic diseases and gut microbiome. The Mediterranean diet focuses on healthy habits like drinking less alcohol, eating more plant-based foods and fewer red meats, encouraging a strong and diverse microbiome. In turn, this may help in prevention and/or reduce the severity of certain neurologic conditions.

OSF INI has two physicians, one nurse practitioner and therapists caring for patients in the Peoria area. This multi-disciplinary approach to care helps INI be the go-to destination for patients in the community. 

For more information, visit the OSF INI website.

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Actor Michael J. Fox might be the most well-known person with Parkinson’s disease but he’s far from alone. In fact, the Parkinson’s Foundation says 90,000 people are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease each year in the U.S. with diagnosed cases increasing 50% between 2012 and 2022.

The Foundation estimates 1 million people in the United States are living with the neurodegenerative disease, with men 1.5 times more likely to have Parkinson’s than women.

April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month, a time to bring added attention to the disorder which impacts balance and coordination, while also causing shaking and stiffness.

The Michael J. Fox Foundation recently announced a biomarker breakthrough from an international group of scientists which will help diagnose. The tool, called the α-synuclein seeding amplification assay (αSyn-SAA), can detect the disease in spinal fluid not only of people diagnosed with Parkinson’s, but also in individuals who have not yet been diagnosed or shown clinical symptoms of the disease, but are at a high risk of developing it.

Marc Katchen, MD is a neurologist with OSF HealthCare. He breaks down the signs to look out for when it comes to Parkinson’s.

“For people who are concerned that they have a shake in the hands, they really have to say ‘Am I moving slower? Am I having trouble getting up out of chairs? Can I not get out of my car very easily?’ It’s that slowness of movement to look out for,” Dr. Katchen says. “Usually the family will notice the person is walking slower or not swinging their hands as much. Another sign is if someone’s facial expressions have slowed down and they’re a little more poker faced than normal.”

Dr. Katchen says sometimes patients assume they have Parkinson’s because of hand tremors, but that’s not always the case. He adds symptoms of Parkinson’s disease can appear up to 10 years before you have tremors.

“Some of the non-specific findings we see are constipation, depression and anxiety which can precede the tremor and slowness of movement. The essential tremor is a tremor people have when they’re using their hands,” Dr. Katchen says. “It can be when they’re holding a cup of coffee, when they’re trying to screw in a small bolt and their hand won’t let them do that. That’s not Parkinson’s. With Parkinson’s disease, their tremor is at rest. You can almost hear it, and it goes away with activity.”

While there is no cure for Parkinson’s, Dr. Katchen says that shouldn’t make those diagnosed give up hope. He says exercise is a great way to increase overall quality of life.

“Get a program at home. Remember, therapy begins at home and it continues at home. There are programs like Rock Steady, which is a boxing program. There are also bicycling programs recently developed,” Dr. Katchen says. “All exercise works. It improves almost 30%, it’s almost like an added medication. It’s something we can give patients and their families that they can control. So you don’t have to rely on a physician to give you a pill.”

While the average age of diagnosis for Parkinson’s is 60 years old, Dr. Katchen says younger people can get it too.

“Michael J. Fox is probably the best known example. Many young people will go to many different providers before they get a diagnosis, because no one is thinking about it and they think they’re too young. You can certainly be in your twenties and thirties with a new onset.”

In 1997, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved Deep Brain Simulation (DBS) surgery to treat Parkinson’s tremor. Dr. Katchen says this was groundbreaking for that time. Since then, the FDA approved the DBS surgery to treat advanced Parkinson’s symptoms.

Learn more about the Parkinson’s services offered at OSF HealthCare.

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