Every year, the global Parkinson’s community comes together to mark World Parkinson’s Day, April 11 — a day dedicated to raising awareness, increasing understanding, and driving meaningful change for people living with Parkinson’s.

This date commemorates the birthday of Dr James Parkinson (1755-1824), the London doctor who gives Parkinson’s its name when it was first recognised as a medical condition in 1817, thanks to his famous ‘Essay on the Shaking Palsy’.

Parkinson’s is a neurological condition which affects the brain’s ability to produce dopamine – the chemical which helps us control movement.

It’s a type of progressive condition – meaning symptoms appear gradually and slowly get worse, as the brain becomes increasingly damaged over time.

Currently, the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease is clinical, based on an interview and physical examination of the patient. This requires the presence of several symptoms and signs (e.g., slowed movement, tremor of hands and feet, rigidity and alteration of gait, among others). 

However, attempts have been made to identify Parkinson's disease according to so-called prodromal symptoms for years. These precede the cardinal symptoms - which are those that can be diagnosed - that are seen when the disease is in its full expression.

The condition is life-altering, but not life-threatening – while some advanced symptoms may make you more vulnerable to infection, for most people Parkinson’s will not significantly reduce life expectancy.

The two main groups of symptoms are “motor” symptoms affecting movement – such as tremor (shaking), muscle rigidity and slowness of movement – and “non-motor” symptoms like pain, anxiety and depression.

We don’t yet know for sure what causes Parkinson’s – it’s most likely a combination of our genetics and environmental factors. The specifics around which genes are definitely involved and what all of the potential environmental factors are remain unknown.

This year, Parkinson’s Europe, one of the founders of World Parkinson’s Day, has set “Bridging the care gap” as the theme for the day, highlighting the need for better support, more coordinated services, and improved care for people living with Parkinson’s.

They encourage governments and healthcare systems to focus on three key areas:

1. Ensuring that people receive clear and accessible information about available support from the moment they are diagnosed

2. Improving access to Parkinson’s nurses or equivalent neurodegenerative care specialists

3. Making healthcare systems more responsive as a person’s condition changes over time. 

Better Parkinson’s care starts with better insight into symptoms and how they evolve over time. This includes making symptoms more clearly visible through objective measurement and using these insights to support therapy optimization. 

Continuous follow-up of disease progression is also important to support appropriate treatment adjustments and to ensure that advanced treatment options are considered at the right time. For us, improving care means enabling a more timely, informed, and responsive approach throughout the patient journey.

World Parkinson’s Day is also a reminder that better care is a shared responsibility. It calls on healthcare systems, clinicians, advocates, caregivers, and innovators to work toward the same goal: ensuring that people with Parkinson’s are not left to navigate complex care needs alone.

A wide variety of complementary and supportive therapies and lifestyle changes may be used for PD, including:

A healthy diet. At this time, there are no specific vitamins, minerals, or other nutrients that have any proven therapeutic value in PD. However, a healthy diet can promote overall well-being for people with PD just as it would for anyone else. Eating a fiber-rich diet and drinking plenty of fluids can help alleviate constipation. 

Exercise. Physical activity, such as walking, yoga, cycling, swimming, and other activities can help people with PD. Exercise can improve mobility, flexibility, balance, and strength. People with PD should always check with their doctors before beginning a new exercise program. Researchers are conducting clinical trials to test whether high-intensity exercise can slow the progression of PD. 

Parkinson’s in Iran

The incidence rate of Parkinson’s disease in Iran is 40 percent higher than the global average, according to the vice president of Iran’s Parkinson’s Association.

Currently, there is no cure for Parkinson’s disease in the world. The treatments help reduce the movement symptoms, IRNA quoted Mohsen Mir-Mohammadi as saying. 

Parkinson’s disease incidence is increasing in the country, and it is estimated that the number of people with Parkinson's in Iran has reached more than 250,000 cases now.
Referring to patients' problems, the official said people with Parkinson’s face many problems, mainly a lack of adequate access to quality medicine, and proper insurance coverage.

The Association is planning to launch a specialized clinic for patients with movement disorder patients in Tehran, Mir-Mohammadi added.