Prevention is the Key to Ending Parkinson’s Disease

By Nancy Kennedy

With the publication of Ending Parkinson’s Disease, a book that he co-wrote, Ray Dorsey, MD, MBA, has delivered a clarion call to the world: a clear, heartfelt and inspirational appeal to create change. The change that he seeks is a world free of Parkinson’s disease. In the book and in his talks to various groups around the country, Dr. Dorsey calls on individuals and society to take action now to reverse the exponential increase in Parkinson’s disease cases across the globe right now. Dr. Dorsey believes that despite its prevalence and rapid growth, Parkinson’s is preventable.

Dr. Dorsey is a neurologist who specializes in the study, diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the nervous system, with cutting-edge expertise in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. He is a clinician and professor of neurology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. In addition, Dr. Dorsey serves as a consultant to numerous organizations that are engaged in Parkinson’s research, care, treatment and advocacy. He recently visited Pittsburgh as a guest of the Parkinson’s Foundation of Western Pennsylvania.

“Parkinson’s disease is a progressive, complex, severely debilitating brain disease,” Dr. Dorsey explains. “It’s the fastest growing brain disorder in the world, surpassing even Alzheimer’s disease. No one is immune. The number of people with Parkinson’s doubled from 1990 to 2015, and it is expected to double again by 2040. Your lifetime risk of developing it is about one in fifteen.”

Across the globe, there are 10 million people with Parkinson’s, including over one million in the U.S. Every year, another 90,000 new cases are diagnosed. The U.S. has 10% of all cases – an exceptionally large share, possibly due to environmental factors such as the persistent use of pesticides that the U.S. has so far refused to ban. The incidence increases with age and is more common in men. Parkinson’s is caused by brain degeneration, with the loss of neurons that produce dopamine, which regulates movement. There are multiple causes and risk factors: age, genetic mutations, pesticide exposure, air pollution, industrial chemicals used mainly for cleaning, and head trauma. Early signs of Parkinson’s include loss of smell, constipation, and sleep disorders. Eventually, a person with Parkinson’s is likely to develop tremors at rest, slow movement, clonus, stiffness and problems with gait and balance. As it progresses, disability and dependency develop.

Parkinson’s was first identified in 1817 and was considered a rare disease. With industrialization came the widespread use of chemicals, exposure to environmental toxins, and a subsequent rise in cases. In 2023, so rapid and extensive is the increase in Parkinson’s disease that some experts are calling it a pandemic. At the same time, new therapies have not emerged and kept pace with the spread.

“Environmental toxins such as the pesticide paraquat and a solvent called trichloroethylene (TCE) have surrounded us,” Dr. Dorsey says. “They are in cleaning products, medical products, electronics, in homes, schools, farms and workplaces. All these risk factors are inhaled or ingested. They have a strong link with Parkinson’s. We have known about the dangers of some of these toxicants for decades, yet in the U.S. they are still widely used. For example, over 30 countries including China have banned paraquat but the U.S. still permits it use.”

Like lung cancer, Parkinson’s disease takes years to unfold. The onset probably happens twenty years before symptoms appear. With increasing longevity, more people will be diagnosed with Parkinson’s, but aging itself is unlikely a cause of the disease.

Dr. Dorsey envisions a grassroots effort to create a world where Parkinson’s is increasingly rare. “We can make Parkinson’s rare and treatable. We did it with polio. We already know what we need to do. By taking these actions, we can give future generations a beautiful gift: a world without Parkinson’s, where no one gets this disease, ever again. We can alter the course of this disease with prevention, advocacy, care and treatment.”

To order a copy of Ending Parkinson’s Disease, visit www.endingPD.org. Complimentary copies may be requested.

To contact Dr. Dorsey, send an email to info@endingPD.org.

The Parkinson Foundation Western Pennsylvania (PFWPA) is a local non-profit that has been providing services and resources since 1995 for persons with Parkinson’s disease, their families and allied professionals. They provide educational programs, exercise programs, support groups and connections to local resources.