Voice of America (VOA) has an audio story that provides a brief overview of the history of Parkinson’s disease.  Starting with when the symptoms where first noted by British physician, James Parkinson, in 1817, to researcher’s discovery in the 1960’s that Parkinson’s patients manifested changes in their brain structure, then, how drugs were soon developed to treat the disease and the ongoing research that continues today.

Also covered are the possible causes for the disease including: extreme emotional stress, a medical operation, exposure to insecticide(s), head injury, genetics, or a combination of the above. Scientists are not sure why more men develop the disease than women, but one group of researchers believe that it is because they are more likely to come in contact with insecticides.

The array of treatments discussed includes drugs, surgery, and genetic therapy.

• Listen to MP3