Parkinson’s is a devastating disease in which the amount of dopamine in a person’s body is reduced, thereby causing messages from the brain to be incorrectly interpreted by the body. The average age of onset is in the mid-seventies. Both men and women are affected, but more men than women have this disease, with men of Ashkenazi descent being the most likely group to have it. Some forms of Parkinson’s are inherited or have a genetic component; others seem to be random.

Initial symptoms may include any of the following symptoms: tremors, shuffling gait, “freezing,” loss of balance, muscle spasms, swallowing disorder, drooling, chronic constipation, memory deficit, speech deficit, and cognitive disorders.