National Institutes of Health researchers have found that Parkin, an important protein linked with some cases of early-onset Parkinson’s disease, regulates how cells in our bodies take up and process dietary fats. Parkinson’s disease is a complex, progressive, and currently incurable neurological disorder characterized by shaking, stiffness, slowed movement, and impaired balance. Parkinson’s primarily affects people over 50, but in about 5 to10 percent of cases it occurs in people as young as their 20s. This form of the disease, which affects actor, author, and Parkinson’s activist Michael J. Fox, is known as early-onset Parkinson’s.
