[A portrait of a doctor with Parkinson's disease]

In a number of causes of Parkinson's disease (PD), occupation is periodically mentioned as a possible risk factor. However, a look at the complex impact of external factors on people of certain professions and the expansion of the area of risk factors in a rapidly changing world leads to the emergence of new studies. There is an assumption that the risk of developing PD is increased in doctors due to long-term exposure to stress. The presented case series describes the clinical features of 7 female doctors with PD. Of the 278 patients with PD referred for rehabilitation since 2016, 7 (2.5%) people were doctors by profession, all women, with stage II-III according to the Hoehn and Yahr scale, average age 65.28±7.94 years, and all referrals were registered during 2022-2023, which accounted for 10% of patients during this time. All patients were assessed for their medical history, clinical features of the underlying disease, comorbidity, MoCA scale, and self-reported physical activity. At the time of examination, the patients worked as primary care physicians or stopped working shortly before the examination due to the underlying disease. The patients' experience of PD was 4.0±2.0 years. The patients complained of unilateral tremor and uni- or bilateral gait disturbance, one patient had freezing. Additionally, the patients were bothered by comorbidities: deforming osteoarthrosis, obesity, arterial hypertension. Cognitive deficit was determined in 5 cases. The patients had reduced muscle strength, had no sports history and did not perform the minimum amount of physical activity recommended for maintaining health. These patients additionally had synergy of the underlying disease with degenerative processes of other body systems and lack of physical activity, which is a preventive factor in the development of PD and comorbid pathology.