Why Are More People Getting Diagnosed with PD?
- Stephanie Soto
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Recent studies have tried to answer why the prevalence of PD is increasing. In fact, in 2022 we saw about a 50% increase in prevalence. Today, the annual prevalence is 90,000 in the United States. Why the increase? Let's find out.
Increasing aging population
The baby boomers have led to a large spike in older adults. With a higher older adult population, you will see higher rates of diseases and conditions more common in older adults to begin with.
Veterans from the Vietnam war are also getting older. These veterans may have been exposed to Agent Orange, which has been linked to PD.
Environmental factors
Modern life has lead to more exposures to toxins. Toxins in dry cleaning, pesticides used in golf courses, air pollution, and occupations in the industrial industry and welding industry are common and known links to PD. This may be one of the toughest risk factors to address as we cannot always control what toxins we are exposed to.
Sedentary lifestyle
This is the other major draw back of modern life. With various modes of transportation, fast food, delivery services, self cleaning vacuums, and so so much more, it is easy to not be active. It is really easy to not eat healthy. This had lead to a striking rise in all chronic diseases over the year, and PD is definitely one of them. Healthy lifestyles that regularly include exercise and movement are neuro-protective so they keep our body more resistant to diseases.
Improved diagnosis
There is a lot more awareness around PD today. People are diagnosed faster and more accurately. There is more information and knowledge around PD in women and young onset PD which has greatly improved diagnostic capabilities. With more awareness, people are more likely to recognize symptoms and more likely to go to the doctor when they have symptoms.
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