PARKINSONS-DISEASE IN POPULATIONS OF AFRICAN ORIGIN - A REVIEW

Several studies have reported a lower prevalence of Parkinson's diseas e (PD) in populations of African origin than in populations of Europea n origin, raising the possibility that the former are protected agains t PD. However, the confounding effects of low case ascertainment and h igh selective mortality on PD prevalence estimates in populations of A frican origin cannot be ruled out at this time. One hypothesis consist ent with available data is that populations of African origin are vuln erable to vascular parkinsonism, which is associated with high mortali ty.