I was in a store one day recently and heard some 20-somethings joking among themselves about a customer who had just left. His face had been expressionless, and he had walked with a shuffling gait. According to their best guess, he had “probably done too many drugs back in the 60s.”
Or more likely, I pointed out, his expressions are masked by Parkinson’s disease, and that slow movement is Bradykinesia.
According to the National Parkinson’s Disease Foundation approx 1 in 272, or 1 million people in USA are currently living with a diagnosis of PD. Onset of symptoms are more common in those people over the age of 60, but a disturbing trend in recent years has been the increasing number of people whose onset begins between the ages of 21 and 40 called “Young On-set Parkinson’s Disease” or YOPD.
Those 20-somethings might do well to consider that they aren’t exempt from contracting PD at some point in their lifetime.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.