History of Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson's has been around since the beginning of time. However, it has not always been know as Parkinson's disease. A London doctor by the name of James Parkinson first brought attention to the subject by publishing a medical essay. The publication titled "An Essay on the Shaking Palsy" help established Parkinson's disease as an accepted medical condition. Dr. Parkinson intended the publication to spark interest in others in hopes they may do further research on the disease. However, it took around 60 years after it was published before someone took interest in study of the disease. Jean Martin Charcot was next to bring awareness to the disease. He remarked at its importance and coined the name Parkinson's disease.
In the 1960's, research led scientists to discover that Parkinson's patients' brains are chemically different. It showed patients with Parkinson's having low levels of dopamine caused by the degeneration of nerve cells in the part of the brain called the substantia nigra, which is considered the midbrain where motor function is located. This discovery led to the first effective medication in the treatment of the symptoms related to the disease and is still used to this day.
Since the 1960's research continued in hopes to unearth more knowledge about the disease. There is much that has been learned about this disease, though there is a great deal more we need to know to develop a cure. The symptoms are progressive and degenerative and tend to be more common in older individuals. It is understood that a dopamine deficiency in the brain is the source, yet why this initially occurs is unclear. Although there is no cure for the disease, its symptoms can be managed with medic...
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...s reason may be told to maintain a low-protein diet, and wait 30 minutes to an hour after taking medication to eat (Levodopa and Carbidopa, 2014).
Works Cited
Goetz, C. G. (2011). The History of Parkinson's Disease: Early Clinical Descriptions and Neurological Therapies. Cold Springs Harbor Perspectives in Medicine. Doi:10.11.1/cshperspect.a008862
Levodopa and Carbidopa. (2014). AHFS Consumer Medication Information, 1.
Neurologic Disorders. (2013). MPR - Pharmacist's Edition, 7(4), 154-170.
Poulopoulos, M., & Waters, C. (2010). Carbidopa/levodopa/entacapone: the evidence for its place in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Core Evidence, 5(1), 1-10.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited. (2014). Carbidopa and Leveodopa Tablet, Extended Release. Retrieved from Daily Med: http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/lookup.cfm?setid=d2a64f14-f638-49d9-8a96-cb7ae46ac3ea
Parkinson’s disease is not a condition that is necessarily easy to be diagnosed. Therefore, the individual is advised to see a Parkinson’s specialist to receive the most accurate diagnosis and consider what the best course of treatment for the individual would be.
Each person with the disease must adjust in their own way, but they must adjust. Even though there is no cure at this time, research is ongoing and promises to improve the health and quality of life for those with Crohn’s disease.
Varanese, S., Birnbaum, Z., Rossi, R., & Di Rocco, A. (2010). Treatment of Advanced Parkinson's Disease. Parkinson's Disease.
Unfortunately, no treatment has been able to fully cure the disease. Treatment began primitively, consisting of things such as “bloodletting from the neck” which was followed by induced inflammation and blistering to the skin. Today, the most common and effective way of treating Parkinson’s temporarily is through attempting to balance dopamine and acetylcholine levels within the brain by prescribing patients with what is known on the market commonly as Levodopa. It is essentially a dopamine supplement of which’s dosage must be individualized for each different patient since the symptoms vary from person to person (Goldmann, 44). This treatment will eventually become less and less effective as the progression of the disease continues. All that patients and neurologists seem to be able to do is attempt to manage the symptoms it
With more than 200,000 US cases per year, Parkinson’s disease has become a major part
In the book, Fox begins by describing his first experience with Parkinson’s Disease. He describes his pinkie one morning as trembling, twitching, auto-animated. And just as any other person might approach the situation, he was alarmed. At first, he thought it was because of the drinking from the previous night, and went started to search for answers. After a year of visiting doctor after doctor, he was finally diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.
One very special case can be displayed by none other than David Beckham, the famous international football star. He says that he has tried various treatments, but the biggest success came from learning to live with the disease (Healthguru, n.d.). His family is also very supportive of his condition, which shows how important family support is. Quoted by Victoria Beckham, his wife, “We've got three fridges - food in one, salad in another and drinks in the third. In the drinks one, everything is symmetrical. If there's three cans, he'll throw one away because it has to be an even number” (Frith,
The path physiology of Parkinson’s disease is the pathogenesis if Parkinson disease is unknown. Epidemiologic data suggest genetic, viral, and environmental toxins as possible causes. Nigral and basal loss of neurons with depletion of dopamine, an inhibitory neurotransmitter, is the principal biochemical alteration in Parkinson disease. Symptoms in basal ganglia disorders result from an imbalance of dopaminergic (inhibitory) and cholinergic (excitatory) activity in the caudate and putamen of the basal ganglia.
Parkinson's is an idiopathic, multifactorial neurodegenerative disease that attacks neurotransmitters in the brain called dopamine. Dopamine is concentrated in a specific area of the brain called the substantia nigra. The neurotransmitter dopamine is a chemical that regulates muscle movement and emotion. Dopamine is responsible for relaying messages between the substantia nigra and other parts of the brain to control body movement. The death of these neurotransmitters affects the central nervous system. The most common symptoms are movement related, including shaking, rigidity, slowness of movement and difficulty with posture. Behavioral problems may arise as the disease progresses. Due to the loss of dopamine, Parkinson's patients will often experience depression and some compulsive behavior. In advanced stages of the disease dementia will sometimes occur. The implications of the disease on the anatomy and physiology of the respiratory and phonatory systems significantly control speech.
Parkinson disease is their affliction. Although Parkinsonism has been around almost as long as recorded history, there is yet to be found a cause or a cure. Medications tame the symptoms and prolong life, but are incapable of reversing the disease progression.. Diagnosis relies exclusively upon clinical signs and symptoms, because almost all laboratory and radiography tests are normal in the Parkinson patient. For this reason early diagnosis is very difficult.
Researchers released the first major study on giving guidance on how to treat the disorder. Researchers also discovered that brain scans also gave an indication of what may cause the disorder while helping to suggest a possible method to diagnose it. The brain transmitter chemical dopamine was also labeled and found that people with this disease have 70% more dopamine transporters than health controls. Today we still do not know if it is a cause or effect of the disorder.
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) has published several informational papers on Parkinson’s disease that can be found at http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/parkinsons_disease/parkinsons_disease.htm. More than a dozen genes have been identified to influence the risk of developing the disease if they are altered. Genes found in the Parkinson disease gene family have a variety of functions in the brain, as well as other activities in other organs and tissues. The survival of particular nerve cells, called neurons, have been impacted by the mutations of these genes, which impact the normal movement, balance and coordination.... ...
Several medications are available that may, in some individuals, improve symptoms or temporarily slow the disease progress, including: Cognex, Aricept, Exelon, and Reminyl. Other drugs are now being tested and could be marketed in the near future.
James Parkinson first discovered Parkinson's Disease in 1817. Parkinson's Disease is a common neurologic disorder for the elderly. It is a disorder of the brain characterized by shaking and difficulty with walking, movement, and coordination. This disease is associated with damage to a part of the brain that controls muscle movement. Parkinson's Disease is a chronic illness that is still being extensively studied.
"Secondary Parkinsonism: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia." U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 11 May 2014.