De ziekte van Parkinson in Nederland. Ontwikkelingen inde kennis van de epidemiologie, etiologie en mogelijkheden voor preventie

Since chronic diseases are becoming more prevalent in our society, there is a growing need for state-of-the-art reviews of developments in the knowledge of etiology, determinants and prevention of chronic diseases. This report is about Parkinson's disease. It is focused on the epidemiology of Parkinson's disease in the Netherlands, the etiology and determinants of the disease and possibilities of primary, secondary or tertiary prevention, especially in relation to life-style. In the Netherlands it is estimated that there are about 13.500 to 35.000 persons with Parkinson's disease and that every year 1.700 new cases of Parkinson's disease are diagnosed. These estimates are based on registration in general practice. In a population sample of elderly persons (55+) there appeared to be 11 per 1.000 men (95%-confidence interval 7-16) and 15 per 1.000 women (95%-confidence interval 11-19), which means 15.300 men and 26.300 women with Parkinson's disease. It makes Parkinson's disease one of the more common diseases in the elderly. A variety of factors contribute to the development of Parkinson's disease. These factors include combinations of genetic predisposition, aging and environment, and could vary between persons. To date the results of genetic research are inconclusive. So, many investigators postulate an important role for environmental factors in the development of Parkinson's disease. Proposals for specific putative environmental factors include viruses, metals and toxins. Smoking has often been reported to be less common in Parkinson's disease, and this has also been proposed to relate to its etiology. However, the cause of Parkinson's disease is unknown. Also there is not much knowledge of life-style as a cause of Parkinson's disease. Physical exercise and food constituents such as vitamin E might have a protective effect, but more research is still needed.Primary and secondary preventive measures aimed at life-style factors are hard to formulate. Tertiary prevention might be possible because physical exercise or speech therapy could prevent complications such as falling and swallowing the wrong way. The several possibilities still have to be examined on effectiveness and efficiency. More research on this topic is recommended.