Epidemiology of progressive supranuclear palsy

Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a rare form of parkinsonism. The in cidence rates are about 0.3-1.1 cases per 100 000 persons. The only two cas e-control studies performed up to now show conflictual results as regards e ducation and residence in rural areas. Recently, a cluster of PSP and atypi cal parkinsonism has been observed in French Antilles. The hypothesis is th at a consumption of both tropical fruit and herbal tea may be associated wi th PSP onset. Some PSP families with a probably autosomal dominant transmis sion have been described. A high frequency of a tau haplotype (H-1/H-1) ass ociated with PSP is reported by some authors. The significance of this asso ciation is still not clear. We have performed a case-control study on 58 PS P cases, 116 hospital controls and 58 population controls.