Affecting more than 10 million people worldwide, Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a chronic disorder that causes progressive movement debilitation. It has been found that this progressive impairment is due to deterioration of neurons in the substantia nigra; this consequently suppresses the production of dopamine. Because this chemical messenger is what initiates movement, those that suffer from Parkinson’s experience symptoms such as tremors, bradykinesia, rigidity, and postural instability. Parkinson’s research also focuses on the protein alpha-synuclein and clumps of this protein, referred to as Lewy bodies, as a pathological hallmark of the disease. Although these studies do not clarify its healthy function, evidence points toward speculations
