Parkinson´s Disease

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Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson’s disease is a disease in the nervous system that affects your body movement. It belongs in the motor system disorders group (About Parkinson’s Disease). This disease can impair the person’s motor skills, speech, and writing skills (All About Parkinson's Disease). It can start off with small tremors in just one of the person’s hands, and progress to the other hand as well. Parkinson’s can affect the person’s whole body. Parkinson’s disease does not only cause tremors it could also cause stiffness or slower movements in your limbs (Dementia). Parkinson’s disease is caused by the slow deterioration of nerve cells in your brain (Causes). These nerve cells produce dopamine that helps control muscle movements throughout the body (All About Parkinson's Disease). With the death of these cells, there may not be an adequate supply of dopamine for the brain. Dopamine is a major neurotransmitter in the brain and is important in motor control, which is why Parkinson’s patients display the tremors (About Parkinson’s Disease). They do not have enough dopamine to accurately control their motor movements (Causes).

Parkinson’s disease has been around longer than we know it. Parkinson’s disease is said to date all the way back to ancient Egypt, and it has also made an appearance in the Christian Bible. There is no clear evidence of it until the 17th century (All About Parkinson's Disease). Even though it has been here for a while now, the disease was not always called Parkinson’s. In fact it was called paralysis agitans or shaking palsy when James Parkinson wrote an essay on it. It is thought that he was the first to discuss Parkinson’s disease and it was later renamed to Parkinson’s disease after him. James was n...

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.... 12 Nov. 2013. Mayo Clinic. 11 Mar. 2014 .

"Diagnosis." - Parkinson's Disease Foundation (PDF). 2014. Parkinson's Disease Foundation. 13 Mar. 2014 .

"Health Information, Resources, Tools & News Online - EverydayHealth.com." EverydayHealth.com. 2014. Everyday Health Media. 13 Mar. 2014 .

"Parkinson's Disease Overview." National Parkinson Foundation. 2014. National Parkinson Foundation. 12 Mar. 2014 .

"Statistics on Parkinson's." - Parkinson's Disease Foundation (PDF). Parkinson's Disease Foundation. 10 Mar. 2014 .

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