Gender disparities in Parkinson’s disease

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder of unknown etiology. Therearesparse data on gender differences in this disorder, but it is clear that there are gender discrepancies in incidence, symptoms, medication effects and treatments. There also appear to be lifecycle fluctuations in the disease course of female Parkinson’s disease patients. The effect of estrogen in this disorder is multifold and its role in the development and treatment of PD will be discussed.

Keywords::

• estrogen
• gender disparities
• levodopa
• Parkinson’s disease
• sex differences