Recalling the pathology of Parkinson's disease; lacking exact figure of prevalence and genetic evidence in Asia with an alarming outcome: A time to step-up

Clin Genet. 2021 Dec;100(6):659-677. doi: 10.1111/cge.14019. Epub 2021 Jul 11.

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common and progressive neurodegenerative disease globally, with major symptoms like bradykinesia, impaired posture, and tremor. Several genetic and environmental factors have been identified but elucidating the main factors have been challenging due to the disease's complex nature. Diagnosis, prognosis, and management of such diseases are challenging and require effective targeted attention in developing countries. Recently, PD is growing rapidly in many crowded Asian countries as an alarming threat with inadequate knowledge of its prevalence, genetic architecture, and geographic distribution. This study gave an in-depth overview of the prevalence, incidence and genomic/genetics studies published so far in the Asian population. To the best of our knowledge, PD has increased significantly in several Asian countries, including China, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, and Israel over the past few years, requiring a greater level of care and attention. Genetic screening of families with PD at national levels and establishing an official database of PD cases are essential to get a comprehensive and conclusive view of the exact prevalence and genetic diversity of PD in the Asian population to properly manage and treat the disease.

Keywords: Asia; Parkinson's disease; developing countries; genetics; incidence; prevalence; public health.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Asia / epidemiology
  • Biomarkers
  • Disease Susceptibility
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Mutation
  • Parkinson Disease / diagnosis
  • Parkinson Disease / epidemiology
  • Parkinson Disease / etiology*
  • Parkinson Disease / therapy
  • Patient Outcome Assessment
  • Phenotype
  • Population Surveillance
  • Prevalence

Substances

  • Biomarkers