For those who have a family member or a friend with Parkinson’s disease, you are familiar with some of the symptoms. Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder that causes muscle tremor, stiffness and weakness. The people I have known with this disease, tremble, shuffle, and have an unbalanced walk. Because of this, they need a walker to walk, even for just a few steps.
This disease is caused by a damage to the nerve cells, known as the basal ganglia, located in the brain. In Parkinson’s disease, degeneration of the basal ganglia causes a lack of dopamine, which is important in the control of muscles.
When I looked up information about Parkinson’s Disease in the book, “The American Medical Association, Encyclopedia of Medicine,” I was surprised to learn that about one person in 200 have this disease. Mostly, older people are affected by this disease. Men are more likely to be affected than women.
This disease usually begins with a slight tremor of one hand, arm, or leg. As the disease progresses, both sides of the body is affected. As one might expect, as time goes on, it becomes very difficult to manage everyday activities. It is interesting to know that Parkinson’s disease does not affect the intellect until much later. For obvious reasons, those who suffer from this disease, become depressed.
Presently, there is no cure for Parkinson’s disease. Mobility can be helped in some cases by doing exercises. There are also some aids that can be used in the home.
There are drugs that can be taken when the afflicted person gets worse. These drugs can minimize the symptoms, but they cannot stop the degeneration of the brain cells. Drug treatment is complicated because several different types of drugs may need to be administered in various combinations.
A drug known as Levodopa has been given. It is considered to be the most effective drug because the body converts this drug into dopamine which helps the muscles. Often, the benefits of this drug wears off and another drug is given.
Sometimes an operation on the brain has been performed in order to reduce the tremor and rigidity. This is done only on younger people who are healthy and who are in the early stages of this disease.
There are organizations that provide help and advice for sufferers. This is sometimes all that is need in the early stages.
Michael J. fox, the actor, is the founder for Parkinson’s Research. He is hopeful that research can find a more detailed cause of Parkinson’s and thereby discover a cure for this disease.
Experimentation with transplantation of dopamine-secreting adrenal tissue is presently taking place.
Source: The American Medical Association, Encyclopedia of Medicine