Hi, my grandfather is war veteran and as many of his comrades he has Parkinson disease. Is there any reason why veterans are more susceptible to this disease?
Parkinsonism is an incurable, progressive degenerative disorder affecting nervous system. Due to insufficient amount of dopamine, a neurotransmitter these patients experience inability to control movements. The most common symptoms are tremor, shaking, muscular stiffness, and slowness of movement. The medications used to treat Parkinson disease include substitution of dopamine and inhibitors of it’s degradation. The disease is life long, and in the end patients move very difficult due to stiffness of muscles. Some Veterans report higher incidence of Parkinson disease, but there was no study conducted to confirm this.