Parkinson's disease is a chronic, progressive and degenerative disease due to lack of a substance called dopamine in the brain stem, which causes the affected patients to present three basic symptoms:

• tremors
• rigidity
• general slowness

Parkinson's disease can start from the second decade of life until the end of it, with a maximum peak of prevalence in the fifth and sixth decades of life. You could say that it is a myth that Parkinson's disease is exclusive to old age, as there may be juvenile and infantile parkinsonism.

Symptoms usually begin slowly and progressively, sometimes the first symptom is depression, difficulty turning over in bed, to write or put on shoes. In other circumstances it’s the patient's relatives who note that the person carries out all activities a bit slower than usual: more time to shower, walk, write, etc.

It is not known exactly what causes the death of dopamine-producing neurons in the brainstem. There is evidence of environmental and genetic factors that may play a role in the origin of the disease; however, many patients have no determining factor.

The life expectancy of the patient affected by Parkinson's disease is the same as the rest of the population, if he/she receives proper treatment. However, the quality of life decreases with time as the disease progresses. Quality of life also depends on how the patient is treated, aggressive treatment with high doses of l-dopa will lead to a short-term complications, which most times are impossible to control with medication, thus causing the patient to be taken early to surgery for Parkinson’s. Conservative treatments in early stages with dopamine agonists or COMT inhibitors slow the onset of these complications, although it is considered that 20% to 30% of the patients will be surgical candidates.

Dr. James Parkinson

The disease was initially described by a physician named James Parkinson in 1817 who gave it his name. At first Dr. Parkinson called it Paralysis agitans, which defines the symptoms of the disease, that is, the association of slowness with abnormal movements.

Dr. Cotzias

In 1967 Dr. Cotzias took the next important step in the history of the disease: he realized that by giving l-dopa (a medication) to patients, they improved significantly due to the lack of dopamine in the brains of these patients. Five years later, this drug, l-dopa, disappointed a little in the opinion of scientists around the world since the improvement experienced by patients was accompanied by complications, mental disorders, loss of drug efficacy and uncontrollable abnormal movements. For this reason, there is a shift toward Functional Surgery for Parkinson's.


In recent years advances in the treatment of this disease have been in the surgical aspect and in the creation of new drugs that improve the patient's condition without so many complications: dopamine agonists, COMT inhibitors and others.