National Parkinson’s Day – April 11, 2025

History of National Parkinson’s Day

Components of possible Parkinson’s disease are available in the early documents, but the first clear medical description was written in 1817 by James Parkinson. Fragments of the description of Parkinsonism can be found in earlier descriptions such as Sylvius de la Boe’s description of rest tremor in 1680, and Sauvage’s description of festination in 1768.

Earlier Indian and Chinese documents in 1000 B.C. provided descriptions of Parkinson’s. Early treatments of Parkinson’s were based on empirical observations, and anticholinergic drugs were used in the 19th century. In the mid-1800s, Jean-Martin Charcot was very influential in refining and expanding this description, and he disseminated information internationally about Parkinson’s. Charcot and his students described the clinical spectrum of the disease and noted two prototypes, and they produced a full detailed description of the arthritic changes, dysautonomia, and pain that can accompany Parkinson’s disease.

Charcot first suggested the term Parkinson’s disease. In the 1960s, the chemical differences in Parkinson’s patient’s brains were identified and researchers found low levels of dopamine and degeneration of nerve cells in a part of the brain. This helped make effective treatment of Parkinson’s disease with dopamine agonists possible. Levodopa in the 1960s was administered to treat the symptoms of Parkinson’s, and still, it is the most widely used medicine.