ABSTRACT
Parkinson’s disease is a degenerative disorder resulting in a severe impairment of normal motor control. It was first described by James Parkinson in 1817 as paralysis agitans. Estimates suggest that about 500,000 people in the United States alone are afflicted with Parkinson’s disease. The three major, characteristic symptoms of the disease are bradykinesia (slowness and poverty of movement), rigidity, and tremor (about 4 Hz to 6 Hz and therefore distinct from the physiological 8 Hz tremor).
