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ABOUT PARKINSON’S DISEASE

• PD causes a variety of “motor” symptoms

(symptoms related to movement of the 

muscles), including rigidity, delayed 

movement, poor balance, and tremors. 

Non-motor symptoms of PD include 

sleep disturbances, urinary dysfunction, 

constipation, swallowing problems, mood 

disorders, and cognitive deficits.

• The exact cause of PD is unknown. Most

researchers agree that the disease is caused 

by both genetic and environmental factors, 

and by interactions among these factors.

• NIH estimates that the disease affects at

least 500,000 Americans, mostly people 

over age 50. The average age of onset is 

about 60. There is no cure for PD; however, 

many effective medications and treatment 

options are available.

• In 2010, VA recognized PD as associated

with exposure to Agent Orange or other 

herbicides during military service. Veterans 

with PD who were exposed to herbicides 

during their service may be eligible for 

disability compensation and health care.

VA RESEARCH ON PARKINSON’S 

DISEASE: OVERVIEW

• In 2001, VA created six specialized

centers to provide Veterans with PD with 

state-of-the-art clinical care, education, 

research, and national outreach and 

advocacy. Known as the Parkinson’s 

Disease Research, Education, and Clinical 

Centers (PADRECCs), they are located in 

Philadelphia; Richmond, Va.; Houston; Los 

Angeles; San Francisco; and the Seattle/

Portland area.

• The centers also provide comprehensive

diagnosis and treatment services for 

other movement disorders, including 

essential tremor, restless leg syndrome, 

dystonia, Lewy body disease, progressive 

supranuclear palsy, multiple system 

atrophy and corticobasal degeneration.

• Researchers at these sites are studying

the biochemical pathways involving dopamine, and testing a variety of treatment 

approaches, including medication, surgery 

and electrical stimulation. Biomedical and 

clinical studies on PD are ongoing at many 

other VA sites as well.

SELECTED MILESTONES AND 

MA JOR EVENTS 

2001 – Created Parkinson’s Disease Research, Education, and Clinical Centers (PADRECCs), at six sites throughout the nation

2003 – Initiated a landmark clinical trial

to assess the effectiveness of deep brain 

stimulators (DBS) for PD

2009 – Determined that DBS may hold significant benefits for those with PD who no 

longer respond well to medication alone

2014 – Found that walking is a safe and 

easily accessible way to improve PD 

symptoms

2015 – Developed a procedure to convert 

skin cells into dopamine neurons

RECENT STUDIES: SELECTED 

HIGHLIGHTS

• Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a

surgical procedure used to treat a 

variety of disabling neurological 

symptoms, especially those related to 

PD. Researchers from two VA Chicagoarea hospitals and three schools of 

medicine in the area found that 6 to 12 

months after DBS surgery, patients whose 

neurostimulator (a surgically implanted, 

battery operated device that delivers 

electrical stimulation to targeted areas 

in the brain that control movement) was 

implanted in their brains’ subthalamic 

nucleus had a significantly greater increase 

in their use of medication for mental health 

issues than those whose neurostimulator 

was implanted in their brains’ globus 

pallidus internus. The study found no 

significant differences in the two groups’ 

use of outpatient or inpatient health care. 

(Journal of Parkinson’s Disease, 2015)

VA research on 

PARKINSON’S DISEASE

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a disorder of the central 

nervous system, characterized by the death of 

dopamine-producing cells in the brain. 

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Most researchers agree that 

Parkinson’s disease is caused by 

a combination of genetic and 

environmental factors

• Patients who walk briskly for 45 

minutes, three times a week, show 

improvements in their Parkinson’s 

symptoms, according to a study by 

researchers with the Iowa City VA 

Health Care System and the University 

of Iowa. They were also less depressed 

and less tired. According to researchers, 

even moderate walking can make a 

significant difference in improving PD 

symptoms. (Neurology, July 29, 2014)

• Low-intensity workouts, stretching, 

and resistance exercise all 

improved the mobility of patients 

with Parkinson’s disease in a VA 

and University of Maryland study. 

Those who walked on a treadmill 

at a comfortable pace for nearly an 

hour showed the most consistent 

improvement in gait and mobility. 

(JAMA Neurology, February 2013)

• Up to 60 percent of PD patients 

experience psychosis (a mental 

disorder characterized by symptoms 

that indicate impaired contact with 

reality) at some point during their 

illness. Physicians commonly prescribe 

antipsychotic drugs to treat the 

condition. A study led by researchers at 

the Philadelphia VA, the VA Ann Arbor 

Healthcare System, and the University 

of Pennsylvania found that those 

who began using antipsychotic drugs 

while being treated for PD were more 

than twice as likely to die during the 

following six months, compared with a 

matched set of PD patients who did not 

use such drugs. (JAMA Neurology,

May 1, 2016)

• VA researchers followed a cohort 

of patients with PD and baseline 

normal cognition skills (the activities 

of thinking, understanding, learning, 

and remembering) for a minimum 

of two years and a maximum of six. 

The investigators, from the Corporal 

Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center 

in Philadelphia and the University of 

Pennsylvania, found that after one 

year, 8.5 percent of the patients had 

developed mild cognitive impairment, 

and by the end of six years the figure 

increased to 47.4 percent. All of the 

patients who had had mild cognitive 

impairment at the end of the first year 

developed dementia by the end of the 

study. The research team concluded 

that the transition from normal 

cognition in PD patients to cognitive 

impairment, including dementia, occurs 

frequently and quickly. (Neurology, 

Oct. 13, 2015)

• The E4 variant of the 

apolipoprotein-E (APOE) gene 

is more common in people with 

dementia who have either PD, 

Alzheimer’s disease, or Lewy body 

disease (a neurodegenerative disorder 

that causes dementia), according to 

a nationwide team of VA researchers 

and their colleagues. In genetic studies 

of donated brain tissue, APOE was 

found in 7 percent of people without 

dementia. It was found far more often in 

Alzheimer’s patients with and without 

Lewy body disease, people with only 

Lewy body disease, and patients with 

PD. (JAMA Neurology, February 2013)

For more information on VA studies 

on Parkinson’s disease and other key 

topics relating to Veterans’ health, 

please visit 

www.research.va.gov/topics

PARKINSON’S DISEASE 

Updated September 2016 • For a digital version of this fact sheet with active links to sources, visit www.research.va.gov/topics