What is Parkinson's disease?

Question

What is Parkinson's disease?

Answer 1

Parkinson's disease develops gradually, often starting with a barely noticeable tremor in just one hand. But while tremor may be the most well-known sign of Parkinson's disease, the disorder also commonly causes a slowing or freezing of movement.



Friends and family may notice that your face shows little or no expression and your arms don't swing when you walk. Speech often becomes soft and mumbling. Parkinson's symptoms tend to worsen as the disease progresses.



While there is no cure for Parkinson's disease, many different types of medicines can treat its symptoms. In some cases, your doctor may suggest surgery.







Signs and symptoms

The symptoms of Parkinson's disease vary from person to person. Early signs may be subtle and can go unnoticed for months or years. Symptoms typically begin on one side of the body and usually remain worse on that side. Parkinson's signs and symptoms may include:



Tremor. The characteristic shaking associated with Parkinson's disease often begins in a hand. A back-and-forth rubbing of your thumb and forefinger, known as pill-rolling, is common. However, many people with Parkinson's disease do not experience substantial tremor.

Slowed motion (bradykinesia). Over time, Parkinson's disease may reduce your ability to initiate voluntary movement. This may make even the simplest tasks difficult and time-consuming. When you walk, your steps may become short and shuffling. Or your feet may freeze to the floor, making it hard to take the first step.

Rigid muscles. Muscle stiffness often occurs in your limbs and neck. Sometimes the stiffness can be so severe that it limits the range of your movements and causes pain.

Impaired posture and balance. Your posture may become stooped as a result of Parkinson's disease. Imbalance also is common, although this is usually mild until the later stages of the disease.

Loss of automatic movements. Blinking, smiling and swinging your arms when you walk are all unconscious acts that are a normal part of being human. In Parkinson's disease, these acts tend to be diminished and even lost. Some people may develop a fixed staring expression and unblinking eyes. Others may no longer gesture or seem animated when they speak.

Speech changes. Many people with Parkinson's disease have problems with speech. You may speak more softly, rapidly or in a monotone, sometimes slurring or repeating words, or hesitating before speaking.

Dementia. In the later stages of Parkinson's disease, some people develop problems with memory and mental clarity. Alzheimer's drugs appear to alleviate some of these symptoms to a mild degree.

Answer 2

Parkinson's disease (also known as Parkinson disease or PD) is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that often impairs the sufferer's motor skills and speech, as well as other functions.[1]



Parkinson's disease belongs to a group of conditions called movement disorders. It is characterized by muscle rigidity, tremor, a slowing of physical movement (bradykinesia) and, in extreme cases, a loss of physical movement (akinesia). The primary symptoms are the results of decreased stimulation of the motor cortex by the basal ganglia, normally caused by the insufficient formation and action of dopamine, which is produced in the dopaminergic neurons of the brain. Secondary symptoms may include high level cognitive dysfunction and subtle language problems. PD is both chronic and progressive.



PD is the most common cause of chronic progressive parkinsonism, a term which refers to the syndrome of tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia and postural instability. PD is also called "primary parkinsonism" or "idiopathic PD" (classically meaning having no known cause although this term is not strictly true in light of the plethora of newly discovered genetic mutations). While many forms of parkinsonism are "idiopathic", "secondary" cases may result from toxicity most notably of drugs, head trauma, or other medical disorders. The disease is named after English physician James Parkinson; who made a detailed description of the disease in his essay: "An Essay on the Shaking Palsy" (1817).

Answer 3

The Parkinson's Reversing Breakthrough?

Answer 4

well alzheimers disease is more from arabs the indain part of the world parkision more in the uk jokes and also the U.S.A thats a main differnace now the main symptons is that parkison is none stop shaking cuz thats where them kind of cells attack all round the body alzheimers just attacks the brain like arthythoiles that attacks a specfic part like say your arm or leg but if you have rhymatsim arthytoiles then it attacks all over u most freqentl constant too so it just how and how long and how many and how few the cells specfil loactions are and how many to attack whch parts now these dieases are main so there is lots o batrieca bad cells so it will attack bad in allround u body except for alzheimer and arthyoiles cuz there have specfic part unlike the other 2 parksion diease and rhymatism arthyoiles

Answer 5

It is a chronic ,progressive nervous disease characterized by muscle tremors when at rest, stiffness ,and a rigid facial expressions..

Michael J. Fox has this disease !!!

Answer 6

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disease of the nervous system associated with trembling of the arms and legs, stiffness and rigidity of the muscles and slowness of movement (bradykinesia).



A third of those affected by the disease go on to develop senile dementia. Seriously affected patients may suffer from complications such as pneumonia, septicaemia (blood poisoning), stroke, urinary tract infection and pressure sores and some of these may be fatal.



What causes Parkinson's disease?



It is caused by the progressive loss of brain cells (neurones) in a part of the brain called the substantia nigra, which produces the chemical dopamine.



As the cells die, less dopamine is produced and transported to the striatum, the area of the brain that co-ordinates movement.



Symptoms develop as neurones die off and dopamine levels drop.



Research suggests Parkinson's sufferers may also lack other brain chemicals including serotonin (linked to mood), noradrenaline (linked to blood pressure control) and acetylcholine (linked to mental state).



Who is affected?



Parkinson's affects 8000-10,000 new people in the UK each year: on average one person in every 500 is affected by Parkinson's disease.



Most patients are over 40 and it very rarely affects people below this age (only 5 per cent). However, some people have developed Parkinson's in their teens.



The risk rises so that by the age of 80 more than two people per 100 of the population have developed some signs of the condition. Both sexes and all races appear to be equally affected.



Other risk factors may include:





pesticide and herbicide exposure





rural living





previous head injury





impairment of smelling capacity





obsessive personality





severe emotional trauma/stress.





In a small minority of patients Parkinson's may be inherited. These patients usually develop the disease under the age of 50. Two genes called alpha-synuclein and parkin have been linked to the disease, although others may also be involved. Their exact function is unknown and currently genetic tests for them are not routine, as most data remains experimental.



What are the symptoms?



The main symptoms of Parkinson's are:





tremor, usually while resting.





stiffness and muscle cramps known as rigidity, particularly affecting the arm, leg and neck.





slowness in initiating movement known as bradykinesia.





poor balance and unstable walking (shuffling, difficulty in turning, falls).





Other symptoms include:





expressionless face





reduced manual dexterity





handwriting difficulties





drooling





sleep problems





urination at night





depression and anxiety





constipation





difficulty in turning in bed at night.





Recent studies in the UK suggest that the condition may have slightly different presentation in African-Caribbean and Indian origin patients. In these ethnic groups stiffness, falls and sub-optimal response to levodopa is often seen.



How does the disease progress?



The onset of symptoms is slow and may go unnoticed for several years. Early signs include stiffness of fingers or a stiff shoulder accompanied by stiffness of muscles. Pain may be a feature.



Symptoms usually only affect one side of the body for one to two years and then spread to the other. Tremor is often noticed first and usually provokes a visit to the doctor. However, up to 30 per cent of sufferers may not have tremor, which can lead to misdiagnosis.



How is a diagnosis made?



A doctor will take a history of symptoms and perform a clinical examination. However, there are no exact tests for Parkinson's, although in some cases specialised brain scans such as SPECT or PET scans may support the diagnosis.



These scans may identify dopamine deficiency in the brain but are not routinely available. However, DATScan using SPECT cameras may become widely available and this technique may be useful in establishing diagnosis in subjects with tremor but no other major signs of Parkinson's. Threse procedures help demonstrate the level of a dopamine carrying protein (dopamine transporter) within the striatum. In Parkinson's, this protein level is low.



What else could it be?



Multiple systems atrophy, corticobasal degeneration, vascular pseudo-parkinsonism and progressive supranuclear palsy may all appear similar to Parkinson's disease.



Where tremors are the main symptom, Parkinson's may be confused with essential tremor (ET). In this condition, tremors occur during activity rather than during rest. DATScan may establish a diagnosis in uncertain cases.



Several medications may also cause symptoms similar to Parkinson's, including major tranquillisers, antipsychotics and some antisickness/antidizziness drugs.



What can my doctor do?



All patients should see a neurologist or a geriatrician with an interest in Parkinson's to confirm the diagnosis and discuss treatment options. Those whose care is taken on by a GP should be referred back to the specialist if their medication is not effective.



What drug treatment is available?



Parkinson's is incurable but the symptoms can be controlled for many years. Treatment is primarily based on dopamine replacement using dopamine-enhancing drugs such as levodopa. This improves disability in most patients and reduces the risk of fatal complications.

Answer 7

the facts mentioned, by loz are right.



The worrying thing now is that younger and younger ppl are getting PD.



y day i was very shocked to hear from someone i know, who is barely even 60yrs, that her PD has got much worse. She has had it fr a few yrs now.



edit

ppl are suffering this awful condition at younger and younger age, i wonder what is going on in our country??

either food quality or other factors are affecting the brain quite seriously.

Answer 8

disease that invades the nervous system and motor nerves causing uncontrolable shaking or tics , it can be controlled by drugs, but eventually they do get worse and the brain suffers and people do die,