Affiliation:
1. National University Hospital, Singapore
Abstract
April is significant to sufferers and supporters of Parkinson’s disease (PD) for two events: the death of Karol Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II on 2 April 2005, and the birthday (April 11) of Dr James Parkinson, the British surgeon for whom the disease is named, and who described the clinical features of PD in 1817 in “An Essay on the Shaking Palsy”.1 April 11 also marks World Parkinson’s Disease Day. Launched in 1997, its celebration worldwide aims to raise the profile and enhance public awareness of the disease. With celebrities like Michael J Fox and Muhammad Ali being diagnosed with PD and raising funds to support Parkinson’s research, much has been done to enable clinicians and scientists to understand and treat the disease.
Publisher
Academy of Medicine, Singapore