Skip to main content
Log in

Parkinson’s disease in China

  • Review Article
  • Published:
Neurological Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Paralysis agitans was first documented in 1817 by James Parkinson, and therefore the syndrome was named Parkinson’s disease (PD). In fact, as early as more than 2000 years ago, the clinical manifestations of this disease have been described in Chinese medicine classics, such as the “Huangdi Neijing (Yellow Emperor’s Internal Classic)” and “Zhong Zang Jing (Hua’s Zhong Zang Classic).” In recent years, especially in the past 30 years after reform and opening-up, PD has drawn a lot of attention by Chinese scholars. Although great progress in the studies of PD has been made in recent years, the gap between China and western countries still exists. In this review, we concentrate on the main progress made in epidemic characteristics, etiology, diagnosis and management of PD in China.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Zhang ZX, Dong ZH, Román GC (2006) Early descriptions of Parkinson disease in ancient China. Arch Neurol 63:782–784

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Li SC, Schoenberg BS, Wang CC et al (1985) A prevalence survey of Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders in the People’s Republic of China. Arch Neurol 42:655–657

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Shi YM, Wang GQ, Xue GB et al (1987) Study on the prevalence of Parkinson disease in Hongkou district, Shanghai. Zhonghua Liu Xing Bing Xue Za Zhi 8:205–207

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Wang YS, Shi YM, Wu ZY et al (1991) Parkinson’s disease in China. Coordinational group of Neuroepidemiology, PLA. Chin Med J 104:960–964

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Ho SC, Woo J, Lee CM (1989) Epidemiologic study of Parkinson’s disease in Hong Kong. Neurology 39:1314–1318

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Wang SJ, Fuh JL, Teng EL et al (1996) A door-to-door survey of Parkinson’s disease in a Chinese population in Kinmen. Arch Neurol 53:66–71

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Chen RC, Chang SF, Su CL et al (2001) Prevalence, incidence, and mortality of PD: a door-to-door survey in Ilan county, Taiwan. Neurology 57:1679–1686

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Tan LC, Venketasubramanian N, Hong CY et al (2004) Prevalence of Parkinson disease in Singapore: Chinese vs. Malays vs. Indians. Neurology 62:1999–2004

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Zhang ZX, Roman GC, Hong Z et al (2005) Parkinson’s disease in China: prevalence in Beijing, Xian, and Shanghai. Lancet 365:595–597

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Zhang L, Nie ZY, Liu Y et al (2005) The prevalence of PD in a nutritionally deficient rural population in China. Acta Neurol Scand 112:29–35

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Tanner CM, Chen B, Wang W et al (1989) Environmental factors and Parkinson’s disease: a case–control study in China. Neurology 39:660–664

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Tanner CM, Chen B, Wang WZ et al (1987) Environmental factors in the etiology of Parkinson’s disease. Can J Neurol Sci 14(3 Suppl):419–423

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Chan DK, Woo J, Ho SC et al (1998) Genetic and environmental risk factors for Parkinson’s disease in a Chinese population. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 65:781–784

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Tan EK, Tan C, Fook-Chong SM et al (2003) Dose-dependent protective effect of coffee, tea, and smoking in Parkinson’s disease: a study in ethnic Chinese. J Neurol Sci 216:163–167

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Tan LC, Koh WP, Yuan JM et al (2008) Differential effects of black versus green tea on risk of Parkinson’s disease in the Singapore Chinese Health Study. Am J Epidemiol 67:553–560

    Google Scholar 

  16. Ma L, Zhang L, Gao XH et al (2006) Dietary factors and smoking as risk factors for PD in a rural population in China: a nested case–control study. Acta Neurol Scand 113:278–281

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Wakabayashi K, Takahashi H (2007) Pathology of familial Parkinson’s disease. Brain Nerve 59:851–864

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Polymeropoulos MH, Higgins JJ, Golbe LI et al (1996) Mapping of a gene for Parkinson’s disease to chromosome 4q21–q23. Science 274:1197–1199

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Chan DK, Mellick G, Cai H et al (2000) The alpha-synuclein gene and Parkinson disease in a Chinese population. Arch Neurol 57:501–503

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Hu CJ, Sung SM, Liu H et al (1999) No mutation of G209A in the alpha-synuclein gene in sporadic Parkinson’s disease among Taiwan Chinese. Eur Neurol 41:85–87

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Lin JJ, Yueh KC, Chang DC et al (1999) Absence of G209A and G88C mutations in the alpha-synuclein gene of Parkinson’s disease in a Chinese population. Eur Neurol 42:217–220

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Tan EK, Chai A, Teo YY et al (2004) Alpha-synuclein haplotypes implicated in risk of Parkinson’s disease. Neurology 62(1):128–131

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Zhao XP, Zheng HM, Xie HJ et al (2004) The alpha-synuclein gene microsatellite polymorphism and lateonset sporadic Parkinson’s disease susceptibility. Zhonghua Yi Xue Yi Chuan Xue Za Zhi 21:339–341

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Fung HC, Chen CM, Hardy J et al (2006) A common genetic factor for Parkinson disease in ethnic Chinese population in Taiwan. BMC Neurol 6:47

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. An XK, Peng R, Li T et al (2008) LRRK2 Gly2385Arg variant is a risk factor of Parkinson’s disease among Han-Chinese from Mainland China. Eur J Neurol 15:301–305

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Chan DK, Ng PW, Mok V et al (2008) LRRK2 Gly2385Arg mutation and clinical features in a Chinese population with early-onset Parkinson’s disease compared to late-onset patients. J Neural Transm 115:1275–1277

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Li C, Ting Z, Qin X et al (2007) The prevalence of LRRK2 Gly2835Arg variant in Han Chinese population with Parkinson’s disease. Mov Disord 22:2439–2443

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Ross OA, Wu YR, Lee MC et al (2008) Analysis of LRRK2 R1628P as a risk factor for Parkinson’s disease. Ann Neurol 64:88–92

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Lu CS, Wu-Chan YH, Van Doeselaar M et al (2008) The LRRK2 Arg1628Pro variant is a risk factor for Parkinson’s disease in the Chinese population. Neurogenetics 9:271–276

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Wu T, Zeng Y, Ding X et al (2006) A novel P755L mutation in LRRK2 gene associated with Parkinson’s disease. Neuroreport 17:1859–1862

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Hao YX, Zhang J, Fang CP et al (2008) Association of two polymorphisms in ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase-L1 gene with Parkinson’s disease in Shanghai. Zhonghua Yi Xue Yi Chuan Xue Za Zhi. 25:272–275

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Wang J, Zhao CY, Si YM et al (2002) ACT and UCH-L1 polymorphisms in Parkinson’s disease and age of onset. Mov Disord 17:767–771

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Xiao Y, Zhang B (2008) Association of the ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase-L1 genetic polymorphism with the susceptibility of Parkinson’s disease. Zhonghua Yi Xue Yi Chuan Xue Za Zhi 25:586–587

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Zhang ZJ, Burgunder JM, An XK et al (2008) Lack of evidence for association of a UCH-L1 S18Y polymorphism with Parkinson’s disease in a Han-Chinese population. Neurosci Lett 442:200–202

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Chan DK, Mok V, Ng PW et al (2008) PARK2 mutations and clinical features in a Chinese population with early-onset Parkinson’s disease. J Neural Transm 115:715–719

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Shyu WC, Lin SZ, Chiang MF et al (2005) Early-onset Parkinson’s disease in a Chinese population: 99mTc-TRODAT-1 SPECT, Parkin gene analysis and clinical study. Parkinsonism Relat Disord 11(3):173–180

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Wu RM, Bounds R, Lincoln S et al (2005) Parkin mutations and early-onset parkinsonism in a Taiwanese cohort. Arch Neurol 62:82–87

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Wu RM, Shan DE, Sun CM et al (2002) Clinical, 18F-dopa PET, and genetic analysis of an ethnic Chinese kindred with early-onset parkinsonism and parkin gene mutations. Mov Disord 17:670–675

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Tan EK, Puong KY, Chan DK et al (2005) Impaired transcriptional upregulation of Parkin promoter variant under oxidative stress and proteasomal inhibition: clinical association. Hum Genet 118:484–488

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Taylor JM, Wu RM, Lin CH et al (2009) Lack of evidence for association of a parkin promoter polymorphism with early-onset Parkinson’s disease in a Chinese population. Parkinsonism Relat Disord 15:149–152

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Peng R, Gou Y, Yuan Q et al (2003) Mutation screening and association analysis of the parkin gene in Parkinson’s disease patients from South-West China. Eur Neurol 49:85–89

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Wang F, Chen B, Feng XL et al (2007) PINK1 IVS5–5 G>A polymorphism may contribute to the risk of late onset Parkinson disease in Chinese. Zhonghua Yi Xue Yi Chuan Xue Za Zhi 24:305–309

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Wang F, Feng X, Ma J et al (2006) A common A340T variant in PINK1 gene associated with late-onset Parkinson’s disease in Chinese. Neurosci Lett 410:121–125

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Chan DK, Mellick GD, Buchanan DD et al (2002) Lack of association between CYP1A1 polymorphism and Parkinson’s disease in a Chinese population. J Neural Transm 109:35–39

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Wang J, Liu Z, Chan P (2000) Lack of association between cytochrome P450 2E1 gene polymorphisms and Parkinson’s disease in a Chinese population. Mov Disord 15:1267–1269

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Chan DK, Lam MK, Wong R et al (2003) Strong association between N-acetyltransferase 2 genotype and PD in Hong Kong Chinese. Neurology 60:1002–1005

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Lee CG, Tang K, Cheung YB et al (2004) MDR1, the blood-brain barrier transporter, is associated with Parkinson’s disease in ethnic Chinese. J Med Genet 41:e60

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Tang G, Zhang M, Xie H et al (2002) Alpha-2 macroglobulin I1000 V polymorphism in Chinese sporadic Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Neurosci Lett 328:195–197

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Tang G, Xie H, Xu L et al (2002) Genetic study of apolipoprotein E gene, alpha-1 antichymotrypsin gene in sporadic Parkinson disease. Am J Med Genet 114:446–449

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Jiang G, Xu L, Wang L et al (2008) Association study of human MTH1 Ile45Thr polymorphism with sporadic Parkinson’s disease. Eur Neurol 59:15–17

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Han Y, Zhang XH, Chen T et al (2008) The survey for the diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Zhonghua Bao Jian Yi Xue Za Zhi 10:18–20

    Google Scholar 

  52. Zhang ZX (The Group of Movement disorders and Parkinson’s disease, Neurologic Branch of Chinese Medical Association) (2006) The diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. Zhonghua Shen Jing Ke Za Zhi 39: 408–409

    Google Scholar 

  53. Feng F, You H, Wang H et al (2009) Phase-weighted imaging in differentiating multiple system atrophy from idiopathic Parkinson disease. Zhongguo Yi Xue Ke Xue Yuan Xue Bao 31:129–133

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  54. Chen SD (The Group of Movement Disorders and Parkinson’s Disease, Neurologic Branch of Chinese Medical Association) (2006) The guideline for management of Parkinson’s disease. Zhonghua Shen Jing Ke Za Zhi 39:409–412

    Google Scholar 

  55. Wang X, Liang XB, Li FQ et al (2008) Therapeutic strategies for Parkinson’s disease: the ancient meets the future—traditional Chinese herbal medicine, electroacupuncture, gene therapy and stem cells. Neurochem Res 33:1956–1963

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  56. Li JY, Yang MH, Dou YQ et al (2008) TCM therapy for Parkinson’s disease. Beijing Zhong Yi Xue Za Zhi 27:300–302

    Google Scholar 

  57. Ren XM (2008) Fifty cases of Parkinson’s disease treated by acupuncture combined with madopar. J Tradit Chin Med 28:255–257

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  58. Liang XB, Liu XY, Li FQ et al (2002) Long-term high-frequency electro-acupuncture stimulation prevents neuronal degeneration and up-regulates BDNF mRNA in the substantia nigra and ventral tegmental area following medial forebrain bundle axotomy. Brain Res Mol Brain Res 108:51–59

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  59. Lam YC, Kum WF, Durairajan SS et al (2008) Efficacy and safety of acupuncture for idiopathic Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review. J Altern Complement Med 14:663–671

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  60. Sun B, Lang LQ, Cong PY et al (2001) History of Chinese stereotactic and functional neurosurgery. Stereotact Funct Neurosurg 717:17–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  61. Iacono RP, Tang ZS, Mazziotta JC et al (1992) Bilateral fetal grafts for Parkinson’s disease: 22 months’ results. Stereotact Funct Neurosurg 58:84–87

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  62. Liu J, Huang HY (2007) How to improve the survival of the fetal ventral mesencephalic cell transplanted in Parkinson’s disease? Neurosci Bull 23:377–382

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  63. Zhang ZX, Anderson DW, Huang JB et al (2003) Prevalence of Parkinson’s disease and related disorders in the elderly population of greater Beijing, China. Mov Disord 18:764–772

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  64. Woo J, Lau E, Ziea E et al (2004) Prevalence of Parkinson’s disease in a Chinese population. Acta Neurol Scand 109:228–231

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Key Project for Science and Technology Development Fund of Nanjing Medical University (08NMUZ040) and the Scholarship for Studying Abroad of Jiangsu Provincial Government.

Conflict of interest

None.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to You-yong Tian.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Tian, Yy., Tang, Cj., Wu, J. et al. Parkinson’s disease in China. Neurol Sci 32, 23–30 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-010-0461-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-010-0461-8

Keywords

Navigation