The prevalence of Parkinson's disease (PD), the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, has dramatically increased worldwide from 2,5 million in 1990, to 6,1 million in 2016. This condition continues to unfold its complexity, being nowadays recognized more as a syndrome rather than a disease. Beside the motor symptoms, the non-motor features, which can appear as early as twenty years before the classic onset, are now included in the diagnostic criteria. Increased public awareness, early recognition, and intervention (mostly neuroprotective) could highly increase the quality of life of people suffering from PD. We believe that these measures must be taken without delay, in order to counteract the increasing prevalence of PD worldwide. Abbreviations: PD = Parkinson's disease, GBD = Global Burden of Diseases, HY = Hoehn-Yahr scale, SD = standard deviation.
Keywords: Parkinson’s disease; Transylvania region; epidemiology; quality of life; study sample characteristics.
© The Authors.Romanian Society of Ophthalmology.