Parkinson’s disease is the most common neurological disorder. Two centuries ago, James Parkinson was the first to describe the disease in details. He published a monograph, “An essay on the shaking palsy,” describing a neurological illness consisting of resting tremor and an odd form of progressive motor disability, now known as Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease is associated with many challenges and complexities. This paper will explain the diagnosis, causes and risk factors, and treatments of the disease and how Parkinson’s disease affects people’s behavior. To obtain a valid diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, some motor features and non-motor features should be examined. The motor features of Parkinson’s disease is characterized by …show more content…
At first, the biological mark of Parkinson’s disease is the loss in dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc). The death of the neurons is the result from the deficiency of dopamine neurotransmitter within the basal ganglia, which are linked to the thalamus in the base of the brain and involved in the coordination of movement. One factor that may cause the loss of those neurons is ageing, sixty yaers of age and older. According to Ali Samii et al, “ageing is associated with a decline of pigmented neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta” (1786). So, ageing is a great agent that increases the risk of having Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease can also be genetically inherited. Mutations in genes are associated with the increased risk of having the disease with a family history of Parkinson’s disease or tremor. For example, a misfolding in the protein α-synuclein causes a mutation in its gene, the first genetic mutation associated with inherited Parkinson’s disease. Furthermore, Parkinson’s disease can be due to environmental exposure. Substances in the environment, such as pesticide exposure, living in the rural areas, drinking well water, are linked to the increased risk of having Parkinson’s disease. Interestingly, some other environmental factors are found to reduce the risk of having the disease, such as smoking tobacco, drinking coffee, using non-steroidal …show more content…
It is done just to slow the disease progression, provide symptomatic relief of motor and non-motor symptoms, and prevent motor fluctuations and dyskinesia. Ali Samii et al assert, “Vitamin E, selegiline, and coenzyme Q10 have been studied as potential neuroprotective agents to slow down disease progression” (1788). These agents work at the early stages of the disease and can relief the effect of motor symptoms too. Dopamine agonist and levodopa are also drugs used in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease to maintain stable dopamine concentrations. With the younger and healthier patients, treatment starts with dopamine agonist because it is rarely cause dyskinesia, and it is sufficient to control parkinsonian symptoms for the first couple of years. With older people, levodopa is the initial step of the treatment instead of dopamine agonist because, as Kalia and Lang assert, “Dopamine agonist are more commonly associated with hallucinations and are therefore usually not prescribed for elderly patients, especially those with cognitive impairment” (906). However, levodopa comes with motor complications over a long-term of use, dyskinesia, motor fluctuation, and night-time awakenings, because of the short half-life of levodopa. So, dopamine agonist is used with levodopa to enhance the effectiveness of levodopa and to reduce off time.
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.
What exactly is Parkinson’s disease? It is a disease of the nervous system; it falls into a group of conditions called motor system disorders. The initial symptoms are normally tremors of a limb, especially when the body is resting. Bradykinesia, akinesia, and postural inability are also symptoms that occur. These symptoms will worsen over time (Genetics Home Reference).
Coadministration of thioridazine has been reported to worsen the tremor in elderly patients with Parkinson’s disease
People who have been diagnosed with this lifelong disease have either started to see the early signs and symptoms or have yet to recognize them. The negative impact that fatigue, loss of muscle strength and in-coordination has on the patients with Parkinson’s disease can be improved with a well-balanced exercise regimen. The three most common physical symptoms the patient will experience are tremors, rigidity, and bradykinesia. “Tremors while at rest are the most common initial symptom and are present in around 70 percent of cases at disease onset. It often presents as a pill rolli...
Goldmann, David R., and David A. Horowitz. American College of Physicians Home Medical Guide to Parkinson's Disease. New York: Dorling Kindersley Pub., 2000. Print.
The four key symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are tremors of the hands, arms, legs, or
Parkinson disease (PD), also referred to as Parkinson’s disease and paralysis agitans, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that is the third most common neurologic disorder of older adults. It is a debilitating disease affecting motor ability and is characterized by four cardinal symptoms: tremor rigidity, bradykinesia or kinesis (slow movement/no movement), and postural instability. Most people have primary, or idiopathic, disease. A few patients have secondary parkinsonian symptoms from conditions such as brain tumors and certain anti-psychotic drugs.
Parkinson’s disease affects patients in various ways with the most observable being muscle weakness, tremor, and rigidity; these symptoms directly influence and reduce the function of the respiratory and phonatory systems. Articulatory, velopharyngeal, laryngeal, and respiratory muscles lose control and some function due to the loss of dopamine in the central nervous system. Facial expression in Parkinson's patients can appear emotionless or diminished. Parkinson’s disease decreases the fine movements of the tongue and jaw that are imperative to articulation. This reduced oral muscular control is also associated with hypoesthetic oropharynx function. With this loss of key sensory stimuli, patients with Parkinson’s disease...
Parkinson’s disease is a chronic, progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterised by resting tremor, slowed movements, rigidity and postural instability (Casey G, 2013). It is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer’s (Martin and Mills, 2012). There is a great variability in reported incidence rates, probably due to difference in diagnostic criteria and case ascertainment, with reported rates in Australia and in Western countries ranging from 8.6 to 19.0 per 100,000 population (J Macphee and D Stewart, 2012). The two main brain structures affected by Parkinson’s are the substantia nigra pars compacta, which is located in the midbrain and other parts of the basal ganglia, w...
The fact that early signs of Parkinsonism can easily be overlooked as normal aging, further complicates diagnosis. Therefore, primary care physicians of the middle-aged and elderly population must be extremely sensitive to patients’ outward appearance and changes in movement ability. Most signs and symptoms of Parkinson disease correspond to one of three motor deficiencies: bradykinesia, akinesia, tremor, and rigidity. The first two qualities are usually present before tremor, but often attributed to aging by the patient and even the physician, and thus the disease is rarely diagnosed until tremor becomes evident much later. An average of 80% of the nigrostriatal neurons may have already degenerated by the time Parkinsonism is diagnosed, which complicates treatment (Fitzgerald, 130).
The following paper discusses one of the most common disease of the elderly naming Parkinson's Disease. This paper reflects the basic understanding of the disease with prime focus on the course, treatment and advance health care needs of the patient. Additionally, to have a better understanding of the disease this paper puts some light on the causes and pathogenesis of the disease and how an elderly patient can cope up with his life during the last stages of the disease.
Parkinson’s disease is one of the most common nervous system disorders. This disease is part of a group of conditions that are referred to as motor system disorders. Motor system disorders are the result of the loss of dopamine producing brain cells. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter. It acts as the chemical messenger in the transmission of signals in the brain and other vial areas. Dopamine is found in humans as well as animals, including both vertebrates and invertebrates. Further information on dopamine can be found by visiting http://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-Dopamine.aspx. There are four primary symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, which include (1) tremors or trembling in hands, arms, legs, jaw and face, (2) rigidity or stiffness of the limns and trunk, (3) bradykinesia or slowness of movement, and (4) postural instability or impaired balance and coordination..
The first scientist who discovered Parkinson Disease (PD) was an English doctor, James Parkinson. In 1847 Dr Parkinson published a paper entitled "Essay on Shaky Palsy" describing six
Without this vital dopamine nerve cells cannot properly transmit messages resulting in a loss of muscle function.Parkinson's Disease is a non-communicable disease and doctors have not yet found out whether or not it is a hereditary disease. Parkinson's Disease has many distinct symptoms. The symptoms are:Muscle Rigiditystiffness difficulty bending arms or legsunstable, stooped, or slumped-over posture loss of balancewalking pattern changesslow movements difficulty beginning to walk difficulty initiating any...
"Secondary Parkinsonism: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia." U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 11 May 2014.