Global Statistics 

  • Parkinson’s is the leading disease to cause disabilities in the world [NCBI, Global trends in the incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability of parkinson’s disease].  
    • According to a global estimation conducted by the World Health Organization in 2019, there is around 8.9 million people with Parkinson’s disease [WHO Parkinson disease].
      • Since 2000, Parkinson’s diagnosis have had an 80% increase.
  • In 2017, there is an estimate of 1.9 million individuals suffering from Parkinson’s Disease in the United States [NCBI Current and projected future economic burden of parkinson’s disease in the U.S. NPJ Parkinson’s disease.]
    • Medicare would only cover 89% of the Parkinson’s patients. 
      • Parkinson’s also drains a lot of money, with treatments amounting to $25.4 billion.

 

Diagnostic Statistics

  • 40% of Individuals with Parkinson’s do not receive a diagnosis within their lifetime. 
    • Lack of diagnosis is directly correlated to access to Neurologists, this is most prevalent in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). [An early diagnosis is not the same as a timely diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease]
  • 90,000 individuals in the United States are diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease yearly; however, in a year, over 60,000 individuals remain undiagnosed.
    • Due to delayed diagnosis, upwards of 60% of dopamine cells are lost in suffering individuals.

 [NCBI Parkinson’s Disease]

 

Gender Statistics

    • Men are 1.5 times more likely than women to be diagnosed with Parkinson’s 
      • Biological factors as depicted (fig.1) contribute to the increased likelihood of men having Parkinson’s disease
    • However, women are more often misdiagnosed and diagnosed late