news-medical.net
Study finds early-onset Parkinson's burden has more than doubled worldwide
A global analysis reveals sharp rises in early-onset Parkinson’s disease among younger adults, exposing widening geographic and sex-based disparities while pointing to environmental clues that require deeper investigation. Study: Global regional and national burden and trends of early-onset Parkinson’s disease from 1990 to 2021. Image Credit: Lightspring / Shutterstock In a recent 'Article in Press' study published in the journal npj Parkinson’s Disease, researchers collated and analyzed global, regional, and national data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2021, covering 1990 to 2021, to evaluate trends in the burden of early-onset Parkinson’s disease (EOPD) among people aged 20 to 49 years across these geographical scales. Study findings identified significant increases in incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability (YLDs) across the three decades under investigation, revealing that the global burden of EOPD has more than doubled over this period. The study further elucidates distinct geographic hotspots in EOPD incidence, an expanding gender gap indicating higher estimated burden among males, and a moderate country-level association with regional agricultural pesticide use, underscoring the need for additional research and targeted public health interventions to better understand and reduce the disease burden across regions. Background Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative...
