Parkinson’s Disease
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June 13, 2022
Parkinson’s disease is an advanced disorder related to the nervous system and the body parts that are controlled by the nervous. Basically, it is a brain disorder related to unintended or uncontrollable movements, such as stiffness, shaking, and difficulty with balance and coordination.
Symptoms usually start gradually and worsen with time. Further the patient may face difficulty in talking and walking. Moreover, there may be sleep issues, mental and behavioural changes, memory difficulties, depression, and fatigue.
Parkinson’s disease is not curable but there are medications that might improve your symptoms.
Types of Parkinson’s Disease
There are several types of Parkinson’s disease as below:
Idiopathic Parkinson’s Disease: People between the ages of 55 to 65 may face this type of disease. Its symptoms may include slow movement, tremors, trouble while walking and balancing, muscle rigidness, etc.
Juvenile Parkinson’s Disease: It is a rare condition occurring before 21 years of age. It is also called as young-onset Parkinson’s if it starts before the age of 40. Symptoms are similar to late-onset Parkinson’s, but is can be associated with genetic causes as compared to late-onset Parkinson’s.
Drug-induced Parkinsonism: It is second commonly cause disease when any drug interferes with dopamine transmission in your body. It is developed with age. Symptoms are similar to Idiopathic Parkinson’s disease. Drugs causing this condition are antidepressants, antipsychotics, gastrointestinal prokinetics, antiepileptic drugs and calcium channel antagonists.
Multiple System Atrophy: It is also a rare disorder with symptoms similar to Idiopathic Parkinson’s disease. It occurs in the age of mid-50s.
Progressive Supranuclear Palsy: It starts in mid-60s and progresses rapidly and causes problems with walking, balance, swallowing, speech, eye movement, and mental ability.
Corticobasal Syndrome: Caused due to saturation of a protein called tau in the brain and symptoms may vary. The symptoms include trouble controlling a limb on one side of your body muscle stiffness, jerky movement, tremors, dementia symptoms, spasms, slow or slurred speech, and trouble swallowing. It occurs between the ages of 50 to 70.
Dementia with Lewy Bodies: Dementia with Lewy bodies is an advanced disorder related to abnormal saturation of protein called alpha-synuclein, or Lewy bodies in your brain. It starts after the age of 50 and men are slightly more affected then women. Symptoms include similar to Parkinson’s along with mental symptoms such as hallucinations, rapid eye movement sleep disorder, changes in alertness or concentration, memory problems and trouble processing information or planning.
Vascular Parkinsonism: It is predicted that Vascular Parkinsonism is caused by multiple small strokes in the brain area that controls movement. Though symptoms are similar to Parkinson’s but mostly affects the lower body parts and symptoms include mostly lower-body parkinsonism, shuffling or freezing walk when walking, absence of a resting tremor, poor response to medication levodopa and postural instability.
Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus: Commonly observed in adults over 65 and onset is approximately is 70 years. It is developed due to the saturation of cerebrospinal fluid in the cavities of your brain.
Causes of Parkinson’s Disease
In the Basal Ganglia, the part of brain that controls movements, the nerve cells become impaired or die. These nerve cells are responsible for producing am important chemical of brain called as dopamine. When these neurons become impaired or die they produce less dopamine, leading to movement problems related with the disease. The reason for neurons death isn’t known yet.
Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease
There are four main symptoms of Parkinson’s:
- Muscle stiffness in which muscle remains contracted for a long time.
- Tremor in hands, legs, arms, jaw, or head.
- Movement slowness.
- Coordination and impaired balance, sometimes leading to falls.
Other symptoms may include:
- Difficulty chewing, swallowing, and speaking.
- Depression and other emotional changes.
- Urinary problems or constipation
- Skin problems
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Parkinson’s Disease
Know about Parkinson’s disease
Parkinson’s disease is a severe problem related to the nervous system that significantly affects your ability to control body movement. The disease seems not so severe initially but turns eventually. A person with Parkinson’s disease may experience shaking, muscle stiffness, problems in balancing and coordinating. Behavioral changes and other severe symptoms can be witnessed as the disease continues to progress.
Who may get Parkinson’s disease?
As is common knowledge, men are around 50% more prone. In older people (who are 60 years old or more). It is highly prevalent in people over 60. However, around 10% of patients are diagnosed before they reach their 50.
Causes of Parkinson’s disease
Doctors don’t know exactly what causes Parkinson’s disease. It is believed that genetic and environmental components play an important role in the existence of Parkinson’s. Some scientists also believe that viruses can accelerate this problem. Reduced dopamine level that are linked with this problem. Along with that, Lewy bodies, kind of abnormal proteins are also present in the brains of Parkinson’s disease patients. As there is no known cause of Parkinson’s disease to date but many, some researchers have classified the group of people who are more likely to develop this problem. Such as:
- Gender – Men Have Around 2 Times More Chances Of Developing This Disease Than Women.
- Age – This Problem Usually Appears Between The Age Of 50 And 60. In 5-10 Percent Of People, It May Occur Before Their 40s.
- Race – White People Are At Higher Risk Of Developing This Problem As Compared To Black.
- Family History – People Whose Family Members Have Parkinson’s Disease Have Higher Chances Of Getting Neurological Disorders.
- Any Severe Head Injury – People Who Get Any Severe Head Injury Have Higher Chances Of Getting Parkinson’s Disease.
Symptoms of Parkinson’s disease
A patient with Parkinson’s may experience many symptoms; some of them appear even before motor problems. The early signs of Parkinson’s are
- Decreased Smelling Ability (Anosmia)
- Changes In Voice
- Stooped Posture
- Constipation
- Cramped Handwriting
- Flaky White
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Hallucinations
- Memory And Concentration Problem
- Problem With Visual-Spatial Relationships
Other signs that may be experienced by an individual:
- Tremoring
- Slow Movement
- Stiffness Of Arms And Legs
- Problems With Body Balancing