Out of all the major diseases out there that don’t quite fit in the regular prescription and yet create the maximum uproar, Parkinson’s disease ranks amongst the top three. Experts and scientist don’t consider Parkinson’s disease as fatal, but yes, people with this illness have a shorter life expectancy as compared to the general population. Diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease is not easy, and at the same time, treatment is long-term to curb major health complications that arise due to the condition.

The Parkinson disease life expectancy is something that deserves a further understanding. Contemporary research has given clues and leads as to why a set of patients ‘tend’ to die sooner than other patients.

Denmark researchers closely followed the progression of this disease in more than 300 patients.

These findings on Parkinson disease life expectancy suggest that proper and early prevention of dementia, psychotic symptoms, and motor progression might be the most fundamentally sound and promising strategies to enhance life expectancy in this disease. The odd part was virtually 1 million people in the country alone are living with this illness, with 50,000- 62,000 new cases being diagnosed every year. Now that’s a staggering figure and the National Parkinson’s Foundation validates the numbers.

The majority of these cases occur in individuals above 60 years of age, but some people also develop Parkinson’s much earlier in life. For instance, Take the case of actor and noted performer Michael J. Fox, who fell victim to it at the age of 30. It’s a progressive, chronic disease characterized by different motor symptoms like slowed movements, muscle stiffness, impaired balance, changes in posture and gait, and tremors. As the disease progresses symptoms become disabling, muscles become rigid and walking is limited. You’ll find that one-third of patients develop mild to severe dementia towards the end of this disease.

Sadly, and quite notably, there’s no cure for this disease and medical research has been trying very hard to bolster Parkinson disease life expectancy patients. However, drugs and a host of other medications can pacify or control all the symptoms for many years. Since the disease progression’s clinical course varies widely from one patient to another, identifying various risk factors related to early death could assist doctors in targeting the best treatment and medical strategies in a better way. So, if you’re suffering from this disease, you have your task cut out. If you notice any of the symptoms, take yourself to the clinic and get the diagnosis done as this is important for identifying accurate Parkinson disease life expectancy.

To affirm the benefit of early diagnosis in increasing Parkinson disease life expectancy, Norway’s Stavanger University Hospital researchers analyzed data and records of 250 Parkinson patients shortlisted for a larger study. During the research, 210 patients died. The period was 1993-2009. The analysis proved that the median time from the start of symptoms to demise was 16 -20 years. The average age of death was 81 and those with dementia were twice as likely to collapse early as people without memory issues or disturbances.

Another very significant aspect of the research was that patients with a record of hallucinations, delusions or auxiliary psychotic conditions were virtually 50% more likely to meet an early death, as compared to those without these symptoms. This is a very important aspect of Parkinson disease life expectancy. When you’re identifying risk elements, you will find that the risk of an early death is up by nearly 40% for each 10-year jump in age at diagnosis.

Researchers and specialists agree that identifying these risk factors could help doctors manage the disease better. The latest reports and studies say that patients who were aged when this disease was diagnosed entailed a greater risk of early death.