Parkinson's rate to soar in China The number of people affected by Parkinson's disease in the largest nations is set to double in the next 25 years, with the fastest growth in Asia and particularly China. Age is a key factor in the nervous-system disease, AFP reports, especially among people over 65. Parkinson's sufferers in the 15 biggest countries will grow to 8.7 million by 2030, from 4.1 million currently - with five million of those in China, according to analysis by the University of Rochester (New York). Menstrual link to brain patterns Women's hormones affect the reward pathways of their brains differently depending on the phases of their menstrual cycles - a finding that may help with treating drug abuse and mood disorders. The US-French study may help explain why women get a bigger kick from cocaine and amphetamines in certain phases, and why they're less vulnerable than men to schizophrenia, Reuters reports. 'It demonstrates for the first time that female hormones affect the reward system in specific ways during particular parts of the cycle,' says Karen Berman of the US National Institute of Mental Health. Brain trauma kills smoking urge A stroke patient who quit smoking because he lost the urge may hold a key to certain addictions. The case 'suggests that the insula [an area on either side of the brain] plays a role in the feeling that smoking is a bodily need', says team leader Antoine Bechara of the universities of Southern California and Iowa. Studies found that 12 out of 13 patients with insula damage easily quit smoking permanently, WebMD reports. Insula damage appears only to affect so-called learned pleasures. Bechara says the insula could be a target for new drug treatments. Clean sweep on medical progress Sanitation has been voted the greatest medical advance since 1840 by more than 11,000 world-wide readers of the BMJ medical journal, followed by antibiotics and anaesthesia. Vaccines ranked No4, then the discovery of DNA, germ theory and the contraceptive pill. Jason Sankey is a tennis professional
