Parkinson's Disease Research Paper

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

and normally make dopamine, an important chemical of the body, responsible for sending signals to the brain which controls movement. However, when you have Parkinson's, these crucial nerve cells breaks down and without enough dopamine you will have trouble controlling your own movement. Parkinson’s disease not only affects your movement it can also affect your voice and your sense of smell.
Presently, scientists are not certain how a person can get Parkinson’s disease but they have enough evidence from their research and data to make an educated hypothesis. Scientists think that certain toxins, internally or externally can destroy the dopaminergic neurons, causing Parkinson's disease. Toxins that scientists think may lead to Parkinson's disease includes manganese, carbon disulfide, carbon monoxide and other pesticides. Scientists also believe that oxidative stress can cause Parkinson's disease. This is because oxidation is a process which unstable molecules, lacking one electron, attempts to replace the missing electron but reacts with other molecules; for example iron. Another reason is because oxidation is generally known to damage tissues, including neurons. The damage of neurons causes the decrease in dopamine resulting in Parkinson’s disease. There are also medications scientists discover that cause similar symptoms as Parkinson's disease and may be a contributing factor to Parkinson’s disease. These medication includes but is not limited to chlorpromazine and haloperidol.
Since scientists are still researching more about this disease, there is no cure for PD as of the present, but medications or surgery can provide some help and improvement. For example, there are medications that help increase brain levels of dopamine, prevent dopamine breakdown and mimics dopamine to help replace the loss of dopamine in Parkinson's disease. Surgery is recommended when medication no longer works on the patient. The available treatments above makes me consider these treatments effective because a person with PD usually lives with only a slightly shorter life than someone who does not have the disease. This is only the case if the person with the disease has access to treatment, but again it also depends on the age, the severity of the person’s condition, and whether they had early treatment or not, and how that individual respond to the disease and medication.
Early symptoms of Parkinson's disease may last a long time before the more serious and obvious symptoms appear because early symptoms for this disease are usually unnoticed and occurs gradually.

For example, someone affected with Parkinson's disease may have difficulty getting out of their seat or they might speak extremely softly or they begin to write very slow and have messy handwriting than previous. These symptoms are not as obvious because most people would just think they are tired and or they are just having lazy days. As mentioned, these early symptoms occur gradually so friends, family members, or loved one are usually the first to notice changes in the person before they realize it themselves. For instance, a family member might notice that they have become expressionless or that they don’t move as swiftly and easily as they used to. They might notice that the person is now more stiff and unsteady with their body

movements.
As Parkinson’s disease gets worse, these minor symptoms become serious and causes obvious changes to the lifestyle.

For example, you might not be able to hold your spoons, forks, knives steady, during your meal. You might not be able to hold a newspaper or hold a book steadily enough to read. Most people seek medical help at this point because it has become a more physical change for them. It has now interfered with their daily activities.

Parkinson’s disease may be inherited. If you have a close relative or family member who has had Parkinson's disease, scientists estimated that it might increase five percent of your chances in having the disease. But there is also ninety-five percent of the cases where there are no known cases of heredity. Which is why scientists believe the spread of this disease through heredity is rare, but it can also be

inherited.
Some scientific studies showed that Parkinson’s disease has an increased risk in developed countries and in rural areas with lots of pesticide use (but there are not enough information to prove it as facts). An estimation of approximately fifty thousand Americans is diagnosed with Parkinson's disease each year. It affects about fifty percent more men than women, and the reasons for this is not clear at all. Women who have Parkinson's disease tend to live longer than men and again the reason is unknown. What is known is that the average age of getting this disease is approximately sixty years old and the incidence rises as you get older. There are four major symptoms of the disease: tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia and postural instability. But depending among individuals, the symptoms may be different because Parkinson's disease does not affect everyone the same way. For instance, the rate of progress may be different.