Identifying gaps in knowledge about Parkinson disease among medical professionals in Thailand

Although Dr. James Parkinson wrote his classic essay “The Shaking Palsy” almost 200 years ago to inform the scientific and medical communities about the disease that now bears his name, the fundamental dynamics of Parkinson disease (PD) are still not fully understood.1 Perhaps because the criteria for diagnosing PD all relate to movements, many people, including physicians, have the misconception that PD primarily is a movement disorder when, in fact, it has a great impact on many other physical and psychological functions as well. In light of the absence of a definitive understanding of the basic etiology of PD and the comprehensive scope of its impact, the medical responses to this neurodegenerative disease often are influenced by misconceptions based on myths and false assumptions.