Parkinson’s disease is a very common movement disorder, Elizabeth Tracey reports

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Parkinson’s disease is common, and becoming even more so, recent data indicate. Liana Rosenthal, a neurologist at Johns Hopkins, says most people recognize it as a movement disorder.

Rosenthal: You probably know someone with Parkinson's disease. It is chronic, it is neurodegenerative, in other words it gets worse over time, and it's characterized by a tremor when someone's hand is at rest. Rigidity is sort of a stiffness to their movements, a slowness of movement, also balance changes. If there's someone in your life with Parkinson's disease you probably know that the symptoms involve so much more. These are the core movement symptoms of the disease.     :31

Rosenthal says that as the condition progresses things like depression and anxiety may also show up. Progression from one stage to the next is usually a process of years and symptoms may be relieved with medications or other strategies. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.