Prognosis of Parkinson's disease in Japan. Tottori University Parkinson's Disease Epidemiology (TUPDE) Study Group

Abstract

Therapy for Parkinson's disease (PD) has been progressing. However, the prognosis for patients with PD is still unclear. We studied the course of PD in patients in the San-in Area of Japan over a long time period. The main purpose of this study was to see whether there was a difference in survival between PD patients and the general population. Information on 114 deceased PD patients, who died between 1989 and 1996, was collected from hospitals belonging to the Tottori University Parkinson's Disease Epidemiology Study Group. Although the duration of illness was prolonged, the survival of PD patients was still poorer than that of the general population. The most common cause of death was pneumonia. The main cause of death in young PD patients was also pneumonia. In order to improve the survival of PD patients, PD-related conditions should be treated more extensively, especially pneumonia.