Parkinson's Disease: Is It All In the Brain?

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Parkinson's Disease: Is It All In the Brain?

"When I should go lay down on the couch, but I know that I will never find a comfortable position, so if I'm to be uncomfortable, it may as well be here, in front of this gently glowing screen. I feel the last of last night's meds burn away in my throat and then the dreaded "heebie-jeebies" come" (6).

Parkinson's disease otherwise named the "shaking palsy" in 1817 by James Parkinson affects 50,000 Americans every year. The risk of the disease is higher amongst men giving them twice risk of developing Parkinson's disease compared to women (5). It is not clear why men are more prone to getting the disease, but it may be related to them not having the female hormone estrogen. (5). The general population that is at risk for developing Parkinson's disease are people older than fifty (1,5).The disease is related to a motor system disorder that cause the patient's hands, legs, jaw, face, and arms to tremor. Parkinson's disease may also cause bradykinesia (slowness of movement) as well as a loss of balance, and a difficulty in doing ordinary daily activities such as walking, talking, eating, and writing (1,2,5). How does this disease then affect the I-Function? If we already have all of our learned capabilities stored there then how do we account for such a loss once Parkinson's disease has occurred?

Symptoms associated with the disease such as tremors are very rhythmic and usually ends when the patient is sleeping. The resistance of the body to move causes rigidity in motion and is caused by an imbalance of opposing muscles in the body. Postural instability is a disturbance in the patient's balance and coordination (1). Notice many of these symptoms occur in relation to a certain movement the body makes. This is because it is said our brains control our movements, thus Parkinson's disease must directly affect some aspect of the brain.

By the previous symptoms stated associated with Parkinson's disease it is clear that most would directly link the disease to the brain. Parkinson's disease is caused by a decrease in the nerve cells in the brain that produce the chemical dopamine (1,4). A chemical in the synapse is what breaks down the dopamine levels and once that occurs it continues to try to deplete the little dopamine that is left (4). The importance of the dopamine is so that messages can be relayed steadily between the substantia nigra (movement control center in the brain) and the corpus striatum (part of the brain that helps regulate motor activities) (1,4).

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