Evidence Shows Parkinson’s Disease Can Run in Families

Researchers have uncovered new evidence that Parkinson’s disease can run in families; the results come from a study of 772 Icelanders who developed the illness after age 50. Doctors already know that the form of Parkinson’s that strikes earlier in life comes from a genetic mutation that makes people prone to the disease.

A team led by Dr. Sigurlaug Sveinbjornsdottir of the National University Hospital in Reykjavik reports in today’s New England Journal of Medicine that the risk of Parkinson’s was 6.7 times higher if one had a sibling with the disease, 3.2 times greater if one had a parent with Parkinson’s, and 2.7 times higher if one had a niece or nephew who was afflicted.

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--Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II