KARACHI: Experts on Tuesday warned that more than 100 people in the country were being diagnosed daily with Parkinson’s disease, showing the alarming spread of the neurodegenerative disorder in Pakistan.

“Like many other non-communicable diseases, Parkinson’s is spreading at an alarming rate in Pakistan and it is feared that by 2030, the number of patients with neurological movement disorder, which is around 600,000 at the moment, would be doubled,” said Dr Nadir Ali Syed, an expert on the subject, while speaking at the Karachi Press Club.

Prof Shaukat Ali, Dr Naila Shahbaz, Dr Khalid Sher from the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Dr Abdul Malik and Haroon Bashir, a Parkinson’s patient, also spoke.

Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative brain disorder that progresses slowly in most people and slows down the movement of the person while his or her hands start shaking and trembling. Most people’s symptoms take years to develop, and they live for years with the disease without any significant issue or problem.

“The actual number of patients with Parkinson’s in Pakistan is unknown but estimates show around 600,000 people suffer from this neurological disorder,” Dr Syed said, adding that half of those people were not aware they had a serious neurological issue which could be treated.

“A person gets Parkinson’s disease when his or her brain slowly stops producing a neurotransmitter called dopamine. With less and less dopamine, a person has less and less ability to regulate his or her movements, body and emotions,” he said, adding that Parkinson’s was not a fatal disease, yet it could have serious complications for patients resulting in death.

According to him, slowness in walking and other bodily movements, trembling of right or left hand and stiffness in the body were some early signs of the disease. Environmental, genetic, lifestyle and pollutants are some of the factors and reasons behind causing Parkinson’s disease.

He claimed the disease was largely under-diagnosed in Pakistan where even many physicians were not aware of symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of the movement disorder.

Dr Shahbaz said complete cure was not available for Parkinson’s disease, but most people with neurological disorder could live a healthy life through identification of individual symptoms and determining a proper course of treatment.

She said most physicians considered it to be an outcome of old age and were also not aware of its symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and management.

A recent survey showed majority of physicians were not aware of the specific symptoms, protocols for diagnosis of the disease as well as its treatment and management.

Dr Shaukat Ali said the number of qualified neurologists having adequate knowledge of Parkinson’s disease was much less than the required.

Haroon Bashir, a patient who supports newly diagnosed patients with Parkin­son’s, said World Parkinson’s Day was observed on April 11 every year, which was also the birthday of Dr James Parkinson.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2017