April 11th -a Day to Make a Difference
By H. Lundbeck As And Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, PRNEThursday, April 8, 2010
TEL AVIV, Israel and COPENHAGEN, April 9, 2010 - World Parkinson's Disease Day is held each year on April 11, the birthday
of Dr. James Parkinson, the first physician to describe Parkinson's disease.
World Parkinson's Disease Day was established to help raise awareness of the
needs of people with Parkinson's and to campaign for access to appropriate
medical care and support services for all those whose lives are affected by
the disease.
A recent survey of over 5,000 members of the general public
from across Europe has highlighted that only 44% of the population can
identify Parkinson's as a neurological condition that affects a person's
movement.
Knut-Johan Onarheim, president of the European Parkinson's
Disease Association (EPDA) commented, "From these survey results it is clear
that there is still much to be done to increase awareness of Parkinson's, in
particular to highlight the profound impact the disease has on individuals
and their carers and family members. World Parkinson's Disease Day is an
important platform to put Parkinson's on the 'agenda' and to increase
awareness of the disease so that people recognise all the symptoms early and
can start treatment as soon as possible."
Parkinson's is a degenerative disorder of the brain which can
affect people's movement, resulting in the well-recognised symptoms of
tremor, stiffness, slowness of movement and impaired balance. An estimated
four million people worldwide suffer from the disease, which usually affects
people over the age of 60.
However, Parkinson's is also associated with a number of
symptoms that are not related to movement. These signs, referred to as
'non-motor symptoms', include loss of sense of smell, depression, sleep
problems and incontinence. They can occur at any stage of the disease and
many of them precede a formal diagnosis of Parkinson's by several years.
These symptoms can come to dominate the condition as the disease progresses,
having an enormous impact on quality of life.
Further results from the survey show that while 62% of people
associate depression with Parkinson's, a prominent non-motor symptom of
Parkinson's affecting 40-50% of people, only 6% of people see this as a main
concern. Recent surveys have revealed that close to 90% of people with
Parkinson's have at least 1 non-motor symptom, with about 10% having up to 5
non-motor symptoms.(1)
Teva and Lundbeck will continue to partner with the EPDA to raise the
awareness of Parkinson's disease and will help in launching the next phase of
their 'Life with Parkinson's' awareness campaign, which will focus on the
non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Non-motor symptoms are a
widespread and significant aspect of Parkinson's and can have a considerable
impact on quality of life. The new campaign will complement the existing Life
with Parkinson's campaign, which is currently available in 12 languages and
it will be launched during World Parkinson's Congress (WPC) in September
2010, in Glasgow, UK. For more information please visit the site:
www.parkinsonsawareness.eu.com.
To keep up to date about the awareness campaign launch and to hear about
World Parkinson's Disease Day stories from around Europe, please join our
Facebook page
www.facebook.com/pages/Parkinsons-disease-Important-things-you-need-to-know/109737979056934.
This page has been set up to mark World Parkinson's
Disease Day and will be simple and instant way to connect and keep updated
with the latest Parkinson's information and news. Please see myPDinfo
(www.myPDinfo.com), an exciting new online resource for people with
Parkinson's, their family and carers. The webpage contains information about
Parkinson's disease including disease background, medication guides and daily
observation diaries. For further information about the EPDA, please see EPDA
(www.epda.eu.com).
Notes to Editors
For broadcast-standard video supporting this press release,
please visit www.thenewsmarket.com/Lundbeck. If you are a first-time
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please email journalisthelp@thenewsmarket.com.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NASDAQ: TEVA),
headquartered in Israel, is among the top 20 pharmaceutical companies in the
world and is the leading generic pharmaceutical company. It develops,
manufactures and markets generic and innovative human pharmaceuticals and
active pharmaceutical ingredients. Over 80 percent of Teva's sales are in
North America and Western Europe. Teva's innovative R&D focuses on developing
novel drugs for diseases of the central nervous system.
H. Lundbeck A/S (LUN.CO, LUN DC, HLUKY) is an international
pharmaceutical company highly committed to improve the quality of life for
people suffering from central nervous system (CNS) disorders. For this
purpose Lundbeck is engaged in the research and development, production,
marketing and sale of pharmaceuticals across the world, targeted at disorders
like depression and anxiety, schizophrenia, insomnia, Huntington's,
Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.
Lundbeck was founded in 1915 by Hans Lundbeck in Copenhagen,
Denmark, and today employs over 5.500 people worldwide. Lundbeck is one of
the world's leading pharmaceutical companies working with CNS disorders. In
2008, the company's revenue was DKK 11.3 billion (approximately EUR 1.5
billion or USD 2.2 billion). For more information, please visit
www.lundbeck.com.
Reference
1. Merello MJ, Fernandez HH. Message from your Medical
Editors: September 2008: Movement Disorders Society, 2008.
Media enquiries: Burson-Marsteller, London: Serena Thomson, +44(0)207300-6411, serena.thomson at bm.com; Rachel Terry, +44(0)20-7300-6352, rachel.terry at bm.com
Tags: April 9, denmark, H. Lundbeck A/s And Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, Israel, Israel And Copenhagen, Tel aviv