According to the Parkinson’s Foundation, almost a million people in the United States live with Parkinson’s Disease, and in five years, it’s expected that number will reach 1.2 million.

Keeping track of those cases could be key to helping patients. There’s a new law that has gone into effect creating a statewide Parkinson’s registry for New York.

Fahed Saada, a neurologist with Saint Joseph’s Health, says this disease begins seven to 10 years before patients show symptoms, which is why it would be helpful to have a registry of Parkinson’s patients in the state. Saada says any slowing of the disease’s progression could make a difference for patients. He also shared that prevalence of this disease is increasing.

“I feel like this is going to be an excitement for us physicians as well as the patients, so we can learn more about the condition and learn more of how patients are being treated in the state for this condition,” Saada said.

The registry will be held by the New York State Department of Health. Data will be reported by hospitals, physicians and nurse practitioners across the state and patients can opt out.

“Further treatment, further investigation in terms of looking at environmental factors and so forth will be helpful to discover a cure or discover a treatment for these patients,” Saada said.

The new state law requiring a Parkinson’s registry will also come with a public website that will be available by the end of this year. New York is one of several states to create a Parkinson’s registry. According to the American Parkinson Disease Association, other states like Connecticut, Delaware and Ohio are working on creating registries.