ABSTRACT
It is a matter of everyday experience that, in the journey from childhood to old age, the way in which we move, speak, hold ourselves and walk gradually changes. A movement or gesture by a skilled actor can, in a moment, leave his audience in no doubt as to the age of the person being depicted; our posture and movements denote our age. The changes from childhood to adulthood reflect maturation of the brain and body. But what determines the changes from middle to old age? Is this normal “wear and tear” of the bones, joints and muscles, or are the changes we see due to disease? Friends who have not seen a patient with early Parkinsonism for a while may be struck at how they have “aged”: they have become stooped and slow. Can Parkinsonism be considered a form of accelerated ageing or, conversely, how much of “normal” ageing is due to incipient Parkinson’s disease? In this chapter, we compare and contrast ageing and Parkinsonism.
