The "Shaking Palsy."

Those are the words Dr. James Parkinson used in an essay more than 200 years ago to group together symptoms and describe a mysterious infirmity afflicting six individuals in London. The British physician was the first to identify and document the condition now known as Parkinson's disease, a progressive movement disorder. Its hallmark is damage to the dopamine-producing neurons in the brain that can lead to muscle stiffness, slowness, balance issues and a host of other problems.

Dopamine is a crucial neurotransmitter involved in our brain's reward system. The chemical plays a central role in motivation, as well as executive function (which includes attention, decision-making, multitasking and planning), movement and emotional regulation.

By 2021, public health r

See Full Page