Parkinson’s Disease

For more than 20 years, BIAL has conducted research into Parkinson's disease with the mission of empowering people with Parkinson's Disease.

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative condition essentially characterised by a reduction of dopamine – a neurotransmitter responsible for controlling movement – in the brain. It is a progressive and chronic disease, which means that the symptoms appear gradually and get worse over time.

The symptoms associated with this disease can vary, but the diagnosis is essentially based on the presence of a few cardinal symptoms: tremor, muscle rigidity and slow movement (bradykinesia). These symptoms are related to movement and are thus called motor symptoms. Many people with Parkinson's also suffer from other problems not related to movement, such as pain, anxiety and depression. These are called non-motor symptoms.

Clinical manifestation of the disease appears more frequently after the age of 60, however, younger people can also suffer from PD. Epidemiological evidence points to a prevalence of this disease in around 6.2 million people worldwide, however the true figure could be considerably higher due to the potential existence of many undiagnosed cases.

Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder and the understanding of this disorder becomes fundamental in the management that people can have of it on short and long-term. Epidemiological data is expressive and shows that those affected are of different ages, but that Epilepsy affects especially children, adolescents and seniors.

About Epilepsy

BIG FIGURES INCLUDE * :



• In Europe, at least 6 million people have epilepsy.


• 15 million Europeans will have one seizure at some time in their lives.


• Epilepsy incidence rates in Europe vary between 28.9 and 47 per 100 000 people.



There are diverse causes and mechanisms of disease development, but globally in about 50% of cases, the cause is still unknown. In other cases, epilepsy causes can be described as: structural, genetic, infectious, metabolic and immune. **

According to the International League Against Epilepsy classification of 2017 ***, seizures are generally described in three major groups, depending on where they start: focal onset, generalized onset and unknown onset.

Epilepsy presents variations from person to person, and according with different age groups. The caregiver is a key element in this journey, following all the information, doubts, fears and feelings near the person with Epilepsy and providing the best support, action and proximity.