Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson’s disease, a chronic, progressive, and neurodegenerative brain disorder affecting body movement, known to have no cure, yet has treatments that will help in managing the disease. This disease is named after James Parkinson, an English physician who described this illness. Approximately one million people in the United States are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (What is Parkinson’s, n.d.). This disease is identified to be slow in progression and symptoms of this will only worsen as time goes on. Parkinson’s is the second most common neurodegenerative disease (Simpson, Murray, & Eccles, 2010).
Parkinson’s disease is “Characterized by the degeneration of the substantia nigra within the basal ganglia, causing a gradual decrease of the neurotransmitter dopamine” (Webb & Adler, 2008, p. 296). This disease is yet to have a known cause, although researchers are working hard in search of one. In other words, Parkinson’s disease is described as a dopamine deficiency in the caudate nucleus and the putamen (Webb & Adler, 2008, p. 176), and an excess amount of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter. There is no answer as to why there is a breakdown of these nerve cells that cause Parkinson’s disease. Researchers are pointing to genetic and environmental factors that may be the cause (The Michael J Fox, n.d.).
There are numerous theories regarding what causes Parkinson’s disease, such as Lewy bodies; these are proteins that are abnormal and aged, accumulated together. Another theory is pointing towards oxidative stress; this is when there is a loss of ability with the Dopaminergic neurons in processing excess amounts of toxic free radicals, leading to their death. Mitochondrial dysfunction and inflammation in ...
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...ia nigra than in that of healthy brains, and the remaining class often show signs of abnormality” (Weiner et al., 2001, p. 7). This is one of the major differences from a typical functioning brain and one that is suffering from Parkinson’s disease. As said previously, those with Parkinson’s suffer from a loss of dopamine, contrasting those who are typical functioning. This disorder will impact the patient in many ways ranging from the way they walk, their voice pitch, how they swallow, and much more.
Researchers are still in hope for finding a cure to this disease. Parkinson’s may change a patients life in many ways; effecting day to day movements that vary in each person. This disease will become a way of life for most patients, something they must learn to live and cope with. Unfortunately the cure is yet to be found, but we are all in hope for finding one soon.
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.
Many people, like myself, after watching an episode of “The Michael Jay Fox Show,” started to be come curious as to what exactly this disease is. You ask yourself; What is this disease? What causes it? Can it be passed down from generation to generation? Is there a treatment? What would your life be like suffering from this? Through my research on Parkinson’s disease, I am determined to answer these questions. I hope to have a better understanding on this disease, and how it affects the lives of patients that I might see in a hospital.
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.
...ieve high patient quality care. Parkinson’s disease can be well managed and if diagnosed the patient has full potential to live a meaningful life.
With more than 200,000 US cases per year, Parkinson’s disease has become a major part
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.
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). Bra...
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...
Parkinson’s Disease is a chronic movement disorder that is progressive, meaning it gets worse over time. According to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation website, “Parkinson’s involves the malfunction and death of vital nerve cells in the brain, called neurons. Parkinson's primarily affects neurons in an area of the brain called the substantia nigra. Some of these dying neurons produce dopamine, a chemical that sends messages to the part
It “is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that is the one of the most common neurologic disorders of older adults” (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2016, p. 867). The brain is the primary organ involved. In the area of the brain called the substantia nigra, dopamine producing cells are damaged or destroyed. Because there is a diminished number of the dopaminergic neurons, dopamine production is decreased. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter responsible for relaying messages to other neurons. Dopamine, together with acetylcholine, work to polish and synchronize movement allowing for smooth, purposeful physical motion. As one neurotransmitter, acetylcholine, elicit a response; the other, dopamine, inhibits it. This works as a well balanced act to control voluntary movement. The decrease in dopamine is what gives Parkinson’s disease its characteristic. Four chief signs are found in Parkinson’s disease: tremors, especially when at rest; muscle rigidity; bradykinesia or akinesia, slow movement which can lead to muscles freezing or no movement especially facial muscles in which the individual adopts a mask like feature called hypomimia; and impaired posture and balance, individuals lose coordination increasing the risk for
There is a lot still left to learn about familial and sporadic Parkinson’s disease. This neurodegenerative disease affects nearly 1% of the population over the age of 65 (Hindawi), yet the exact cause of the disease is not yet fully understood. Strides were made towards the answer when researchers were able to locate the site of the mutation. Through careful research, more was learned about the disease’s roots and even though we don’t have the full answer some researchers are on their way to finding a cure. Although the exact cause of familial Parkinson’s isn’t yet conceived, scientific breakthroughs have led us down a road of discovery that has brought us to new findings.
The motor dysfunctions of Parkinson’s disease are thought to result primarily from the degeneration and death of dopamine-producing cells in the cerebellum mainly targeting the striatum, which is the input gate of basal ganglia (BG). (Benazzouz et al., 2014). The basal ganglia are a mass of nerve cells located deep in the cerebral cortex. The cerebellum controls conscious activity including intellect, thought, speech, emotions, and memory. As a consequence, Parkinson’s disease is characterized by a consistent reduction of striatal dopamine levels. When dopamine-producing neurons die, symptoms such as tremor, slowness, stiffness, and balance problems
The chronic disease I am researching and writing about is named Parkinson's disease (PD). By definition, Parkinson’s disease is a slowly progressive neurologic disease characterized by an expressionless face, tremor at rest, slowing of voluntary movements, walking manners are with short accelerating steps, peculiar posture and muscle weakness, caused by degeneration of an area of the brain known as the basal ganglia, and low production of the neurotransmitter dopamine (basically a chemical released by nerve cells to send signals to other nerve cells). In other words, Parkinson's disease is a disorder that affects the way your body moves and it happens when there is a problem with certain nerve cells in the brain. These nerve cells generally
There isn’t any cure for Parkinson’s disease, but treatment help reduce and slower the symptoms of the disease. Prescription medication include dopamine agonists , MAO inhibitor and anticholinergic . Over-the-counter medication are vitamin E, C, and Coenzyme Q10 . Another type of treatment is Deep Brain Stimulation, or DBS; in which a small electrode is implant in your brain and it sends electrical impulses to stimulate the parts of the brain that cause some of the symptoms of
Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative brain disorder. This disease is both chronic and progressive in nature. In this disease, the brain slowly stops producing dopamine, a neurotransmitter that regulates body movements and emotions. This disease can present itself in many different symptoms, but the four main motor symptoms are: tremors at rest, slowness of movement, stiffness in arms and legs, and trouble with balance. Other symptoms like depression and anxiety often accompany Parkinson’s. Parkinson’s is diagnosed by a series of tests one including a DAT neuroimaging scan of the brain to identify the dopamine transporters and their functionality. A physician may record the results of a physical exam on the United Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale. This universal scale is used to document the patient’s disease progression from year to year.