Two decades of increasing mortality from Parkinson's disease among the US elderly
D. E. Lilienfeld, E. Chan, J. Ehland, J. Godbold, P. J. Landrigan, G. Marsh and D. P. Perl
Department of Community Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029.
To examine the possible role of environmental factors in the cause of
Parkinson's disease (PD), we reviewed mortality trends for PD in the United
States from 1962 through 1984. We found that age-specific mortality for PD
in all demographic groups had changed notably during this 23-year interval.
Among whites of both sexes, substantial declines were observed among the
middle-aged, while notable increases were seen in the geriatric age groups.
Similar changes were found in nonwhites; among nonwhites in the geriatric
age range, increases of 22% to 553% were observed among women. Men
generally had a 100% higher risk of death due to PD than did women. Whites
were at three times the risk of nonwhites. The observed temporal changes
appear to reflect improved treatment, better case ascertainment, and a true
rise in the incidence of PD, particularly among the elderly. This rise may
be due to preventable environmental causes and will require further
investigation.
