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Parkinson's disease (also known as Parkinson disease or PD) is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that affects the individual’s motor skills and speech. Parkinson's causes the brain to lose the cells that produce dopamine, an important neurotransmitter (a chemical that carries signals between the neurons in the brain), which enables us to perform smooth, coordinated movements. Parkinson Disease develops when 80 % of these cells are lost, making it quite a chronic and crippling disease.
Parkinson’s disease strikes 2 in every 1,000 people , and usually occurs in the over 50.
Even though many cases of Parkinson’s are "idiopathic", there are some cases that may result from toxicity from drugs, head trauma, or other medical disorders.
A Few Parkinson Disease Motor and Non-Motor Symptoms:
* Trembling
* Moving quite rigidly and stiff (walking and running are severely affected)
* Bradykinesia / akinesia- moving quite slow
* Postural instability, which leads to impaired balance and falls.
* Speech disturbances- Hypophonia soft speech, Cluttered speech, Monotonic speech, Poorly-intelligible speech
* Drooling and Dysphagia- impaired ability to swallow
* Impaired fine motor and gross motor dexterity coordination
* Fatigue (up to 50% of cases)
Cognitive disturbances, a slow reaction time, dementia( a later development in approximately 20-40% of all patients), hallucinations, paranoia
* Short term memory loss
* Sleep disturbances, daytime somnolence, insomnia
* Impaired visual contrast sensitivity, spatial reasoning, colour discrimination
* Dizziness and fainting; usually attributable orthostatic hypotension, a failure of the autonomic nervous system to adjust blood pressure in response to changes in body position
* Reduction or loss of sense of smell (microsmia or anosmia) - can occur years prior to diagnosis
* pain: neuropathic, muscle, joints, and tendons, attributable to tension, dystonia, rigidity, joint stiffness, and injuries associated with attempts at accommodation
·Nocturia (getting up in the night to pass urine) — up to 60% of cases and Urinary incontinence, (typically in the late stages)
·Constipation and gastric dysmobility –can be severe enough to endanger comfort and even health
* Altered sexual function
* Weight loss, which is significant over a period of ten years.
EVEN THOUGH THERE IS NO CURE THERE ARE TREATMENTS:
·Levodopa- is a synthetic chemical that helps to replace the missing dopamine in the brain, however it carries severe side effects with long-term usage.
·Dopamine agonists- drugs that boost dopamine activity or mimic its effects, these also carry side effects and have to be individually tailored
·Apomorphine- this is an injected drug for people with advanced PD, this is used when people have episodes of great reduced mobility
·Deep brain stimulation - a form of surgery that can be used to treat some of the symptoms of Parkinson’s
·Therapy - Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, and Speech and language therapists
Parkinson’s Disease is not considered to be a fatal, but the life expectancy is lower than people who do not have the disease, and it progressively get worse with time. However progression of the disease varies from people to people and with treatment a person with PD can live productive lives for many years after diagnosis.
Parkinson’s Disease can happen to Anyone Famous people we know with the disease are:
Michael J. Fox
Muhammad Ali
then….
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