TEL AVIV, Israel and COPENHAGEN, April 9, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- World Parkinson's Disease Day is held each year on April 11, the birthday of Dr. James Parkinson, the first physician to describe Parkinson's disease. World Parkinson's Disease Day was established to help raise awareness of the needs of people with Parkinson's and to campaign for access to appropriate medical care and support services for all those whose lives are affected by the disease.

A recent survey of over 5,000 members of the general public from across Europe has highlighted that only 44% of the population can identify Parkinson's as a neurological condition that affects a person's movement.

Knut-Johan Onarheim, president of the European Parkinson's Disease Association (EPDA) commented, From these survey results it is clear that there is still much to be done to increase awareness of Parkinson's, in particular to highlight the profound impact the disease has on individuals and their carers and family members. World Parkinson's Disease Day is an important platform to put Parkinson's on the 'agenda' and to increase awareness of the disease so that people recognise all the symptoms early and can start treatment as soon as possible.

Parkinson's is a degenerative disorder of the brain which can affect people's movement, resulting in the well-recognised symptoms of tremor, stiffness, slowness of movement and impaired balance. An estimated four million people worldwide suffer from the disease, which usually affects people over the age of 60.

However, Parkinson's is also associated with a number of symptoms that are not related to movement. These signs, referred to as 'non-motor symptoms', include loss of sense of smell, depression, sleep problems and incontinence. They can occur at any stage of the disease and many of them precede a formal diagnosis of Parkinson's by several years. These symptoms can come to dominate the condition as the disease progresses, having an enormous impact on quality of life.

Further results from the survey show that while 62% of people associate depression with Parkinson's, a prominent non-motor symptom of Parkinson's affecting 40-50% of people, only 6% of people see this as a main concern. Recent surveys have revealed that close to 90% of people with Parkinson's have at least 1 non-motor symptom, with about 10% having up to 5 non-motor symptoms.(1)

Teva and Lundbeck will continue to partner with the EPDA to raise the awareness of Parkinson's disease and will help in launching the next phase of their 'Life with Parkinson's' awareness campaign, which will focus on the non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Non-motor symptoms are a widespread and significant aspect of Parkinson's and can have a considerable impact on quality of life. The new campaign will complement the existing Life with Parkinson's campaign, which is currently available in 12 languages and it will be launched during World Parkinson's Congress (WPC) in September 2010, in Glasgow, UK. For more information please visit the site: http://www.parkinsonsawareness.eu.com.

To keep up to date about the awareness campaign launch and to hear about World Parkinson's Disease Day stories from around Europe, please join our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Parkinsons-disease-Important-things-you-ne.... This page has been set up to mark World Parkinson's Disease Day and will be simple and instant way to connect and keep updated with the latest Parkinson's information and news. Please see myPDinfo (http://www.myPDinfo.com), an exciting new online resource for people with Parkinson's, their family and carers. The webpage contains information about Parkinson's disease including disease background, medication guides and daily observation diaries. For further information about the EPDA, please see EPDA (http://www.epda.eu.com).

Notes to Editors

For broadcast-standard video supporting this press release, please visit http://www.thenewsmarket.com/Lundbeck. If you are a first-time user, please take a moment to register. In case you have any questions, please email journalisthelp@thenewsmarket.com.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. , headquartered in Israel, is among the top 20 pharmaceutical companies in the world and is the leading generic pharmaceutical company. It develops, manufactures and markets generic and innovative human pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. Over 80 percent of Teva's sales are in North America and Western Europe. Teva's innovative RD focuses on developing novel drugs for diseases of the central nervous system.

H. Lundbeck A/S (LUN.CO, LUN DC, HLUKY) is an international pharmaceutical company highly committed to improve the quality of life for people suffering from central nervous system (CNS) disorders. For this purpose Lundbeck is engaged in the research and development, production, marketing and sale of pharmaceuticals across the world, targeted at disorders like depression and anxiety, schizophrenia, insomnia, Huntington's, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.

Lundbeck was founded in 1915 by Hans Lundbeck in Copenhagen, Denmark, and today employs over 5.500 people worldwide. Lundbeck is one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies working with CNS disorders. In 2008, the company's revenue was DKK 11.3 billion (approximately EUR 1.5 billion or USD 2.2 billion). For more information, please visit http://www.lundbeck.com.

Reference

1. Merello MJ, Fernandez HH. Message from your Medical Editors: September 2008: Movement Disorders Society, 2008.

SOURCE: H. Lundbeck A/S and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd

CONTACT: Media enquiries: Burson-Marsteller, London: Serena Thomson,+44(0)207300-6411, serena.thomson@bm.com; Rachel Terry, +44(0)20-7300-6352,rachel.terry@bm.com