Click to play videoChennai/Mumbai: It's the most common neurological disorder in the elderly, and yet Parkinson’s remains largely misunderstood.
Holding a glass of juice, it's hard to believe 62-year-old businessman Muhammad Irfaan has Parkinson’s, a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system.
He was diagnosed with the condition when he was 47. Constant shaking, slowness of movement and rigidity of limbs characterised Irfaan's life until recently.
"For 25 years I was a businessman in Hongkong. But this disease I had to give it all up and come back to India," Irfaan says.
That's when he opted to go in for a surgery. Dr Paresh Doshi of Mumbai's Jaslok Hospital has pioneered the use of deep-brain stimulation against movement disorders in India.
"Parkinson’s can be controlled through treatment. After the surgery one can lead a near-normal life," Dr Paresh Doshi says.
There has been increasing awareness about Parkinson’s in the west - thanks to the diseases' most prominent face - boxer Mohammad Ali.
But the estimates remain disturbing. According to some experts, the number of those suffering from Parkinson's over 50 will double in the next 25 years - from 4.6 million in 2005 to 9.3 million in 2030.
What's worse is that these numbers will mostly be in developing countries.
The aim this World Parkinson’s Day is to create awareness and early detection. The symptoms of the condition include - loss of spontaneous smiling, absence of blinking, difficulty and slowness of daily activities and tremors in hands.
NGOs like Parkinsonism and Related Disorders Awareness Network and Parkinson's Disease Foundation of India are working to make sure people like Irfaan can lead a near normal life.
(With inputs from Pratibha Parmeswaran, Aruna Ramesh and Ginny Narula)
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