Parkinson’s disease is second most common neurodegenerative disease. Parkinson’s disease or Paralysis was first described as “the shaking palsy” by James Parkinson in 1817. It is chronic, progressive degenerative disorder of nervous system characterised by cardinal features of rigidity, akinesia, bradykinesia, tremors and postural instability.About 5 million people are affected worldwide. Prevalence rises from 1% with those with 60years age to 4% in population over 80 years.

The disease is slightly more frequent in men than women. The prevalence of the disease is generally accepted to range from 100 to 200 per 100,000 people and the annual incidence is thought to be 15 per 100,000.

Parkinson disease is a disorder of the dopamine producing neuron of the substantianigra in the basal ganglia. The substantianigra is subcortical grey matter that contain pigmented neurons. The severity of loss of dopamine correlated well with the amount of movement slowness or bredykinesia exhibited by the patients. Loss of dopamine neurons and the production of lewy bodies within the pigmented substantianigra neurons are hallmarks of idiopathic Parkinson disease.

Four motor symptoms are considered cardinal in PD: tremor, rigidity, slowness of movement, and postural instability. The range of other motor symptoms include posture and gait disturbances such as a forward-flexed posture with a typical festinating gait.¹ Forward head posture (FHP) is the anterior positioning of the cervical spine. It is the most common deviation from the normal curvature of the cervical spine. It involves an excessive anterior position of the head in relation to the theoretical plumb line perpendicular to the body centre of gravity. In forward head posture there is extension of upper cervical spine, flattening and flexion of lower cervical spine with an increase in lordsis and rounding of the upper back and elevation and protraction of the shoulders.⁴Physiotherapy treatment i.e. PNF and resisted exercise is better to improve range of motion and forward head posture in Parkinson’s patients.

Need of the study:

Parkinson’s disease affects 1–2 per 1000 of the population at any time. PD prevalence is increasing with age and PD affects 1% of the population above 60 years. The posture in Parkinson’s disease deteriorate. Forward head and stooped posture is very common in these patients. Pharmacological treatment doesn’t curepostural instability. Hence physiotherapy correction i.e. strengthening exercises and PNF techniques are very effective in treatment of forward head posture.