This material is primarily written for 2nd and 3rd year medical students . Click here to return to the clerkship curriculum . It is due to loss of dopamine containing substantia nigra cells.
Cigarette smoking is associated with a decreased incidence.
The current consensus that Parkinsons might either be caused by an uncommon toxin combined with high genetic susceptibility or a common toxin with relatively low susceptibility. There is good evidence for genetic factors. A mutation in alpha-synuclein is responsible for this pedigree. Slow acetylation might lead to an impaired ability to handle neurotoxic substances, linking together the genetic and toxic hypotheses. Incidence and Prevalence Parkinson's is uncommon in patients less than 40 years of age.