Parkinson’s is a degenerative disease of the brain that affects the nerve cells involved in movement.

See also Map 91 Falls.

London, Scotland and most towns north and west of Sheffield stand out as being areas with low rates of Parkinson’s disease. South Yorkshire, more rural Lancashire, and the Home Counties ring have elevated rates. The map is almost the inverse of that of smoking rates, reflecting the speculation that those more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease are a little less likely to take up or sustain the smoking habit.

Parkinson’s disease affects a part of the brain that controls certain aspects of movement and so affects walking, talking, writing and swallowing. Symptoms include shaking, slowness of movement and stiffness in the joints. It is a disease that can be difficult to treat.

This cause of death reaps a similar number of men and women; all other causes which follow in this atlas kill more women than men.

Chinese leader Mao Zedong suffered from Parkinson’s.