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[P65]Parkinsons Disease Signs And Symptoms

by James S. Pendergraft, Jam

Parkinson's disease builds up slowly, often starting with a barely visible tremor in just one hand. Even though a tremor is most commonly associated with Parkinson's disease, it normally ends up in the slowing and freezing of body movements. It is a neurological disorder that causes muscle tremor, weakness and stiffness.

The characteristic signs are; trembling, rigid posture, and slow movement. Speech also often becomes slurred and mumbled, and thus difficult to follow. The patient might have little or no expression on the face or might not even swing the arms at all while walking, and could also have an unbalanced walk. Its effects worsen as the disease progresses.

Unfortunately there is no cure yet for this disease, although many medicines can help treat and ease the symptoms, and in some cases these treatments might entail a surgical procedure.

Parkinson's disease is caused by the degeneration of or damage to the nerve cells in the brain. Many of the symptoms of this disease are because of lack of a chemical, called dopamine, in the brain, which acts as a messenger. This happens when particular brain cells that create dopamine, deteriorate or die. But even after a lot of careful research by scientists, it still isn't still clear as to what really triggers the drop in the production of dopamine. It is believed that probably genetic transmutations and/or environmental pollutants could have a hand in leading to Parkinson's disease.

Symptoms

Parkinson's disease has different symptomatic effects from person to person. These symptoms, at the advent of the disease, may be slight and can be unseen for months or even years. These signs usually start on one side of the body and generally remain the worst on that side of the body itself. Parkinson's signs and symptoms may consist of the following:

1- A person might keep shaking, which come across as tremors, which usually start off in a hand. These tremors tend to spread to the entire arm, or just to the neck region, when the head shakes continuously, or also the legs, when the gait of the person completely changes, making it unbalanced and awkward.

2- A person might move extremely slowly, compared to the normal speed of movement. The ability to make voluntary movement could diminish. This could make life's tasks and jobs time consuming and complicated. The steps taken during a walk might become short and the feet might scuff. The feet may also freeze up, making it very tough to take a step.

3- The muscles could get rigid and stiff, in the limbs and also the neck. This rigidity could be very severe amounting to a lot of pain, further limiting any kind of movements.

4- Posture may become stooped and an imbalance in standing or walking or even sitting postures can also be seen in the latter stages of the disease.

5- Involuntary automatic movements such as blinking, smiling, moving arms while walking, and other unconscious movements etc., are slowly lost. Some people may stare in a fixative manner, with expressionless faces and eyes that don't blink. Some may not gesture and may seem lifeless.

6- There are marked changes in speech delivery, making it very soft and even inaudible, or fast and/or in monotone, even repeating words, or dragging them, or hesitation before speaking.

7-Later on as the disease progresses, some people start having problems with memory and clarity of thoughts.

Treatments

Various treatments for example, medications such as levodopa, Dopamine agonists, MAO B inhibitors, Catechol O-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitors, etc. are administered to either create dopamine, or something dopamine-like, or help in its natural generation and preserve the existing dopamine secreted. Some drugs also reduce tremors in the body parts and also calm the mind.

Physical therapy also helps for general good health and better mobility. Some surgeries might also be done such as Deep brain stimulation, which is most common in order to treat the disease. It entails inserting an electrode deep within the parts of the brain that control motor-movements. It is used for patients at an advanced stage of the disease. This kind of treatment has a lot of risks involved, as it is intrusive and uses the implanting of foreign objects, so the patient's guardians and if possible the patient, must think rationally before opting for this treatment.

Parkinson's Disease is a disease mostly affecting middle-aged and elderly people characterized by tremors and rigid, slow movement. It is also known as PD or Parkinson disease. Early symptoms of PD are subtle and occur gradually. Parkinson's disease belongs to a group of conditions called movement disorders. The disease is both chronic, meaning it persists over a long period of time, and progressive, meaning its symptoms grow worse over time. Parkinson's disease was named after Scottish physician James Parkinson, who published a description of the condition. Cardinal features include resting tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, and postural instability. In some people the disease progresses more quickly than in others. It is characterized by muscle rigidity, tremor, a slowing of physical movement ( bradykinesia ), and in extreme cases, a loss of physical movement ( akinesia ). PD usually affects people over the age of 50. The risk of PD increases with age, so analysts expect the financial and public health impact of this disease to increase as the population gets older. In Parkinson's, cells are destroyed in part of the brain stem - the substantia nigra, which sends out fibers to the corpus stratia, gray and white bands of tissue in both sides of the brain. Parkinson's disease is called idiopathic Parkinson's because the cause is unknown. In the other forms of parkinsonism, a cause is known or suspected.

Causes of Parkinson's disease

The common causes and risk factor's of Parkinson's disease include the following:

The exact cause of Parkinson's disease is not known.

Pesticides or other chemicals.

A combination of genetic and environmental factors.

Environmental toxins.

Proximity to industrial plants or quarries.

Exposure to an environmental toxin. .

Having one or more close relatives with Parkinson's.

Symptoms of Parkinson's disease

Some sign and symptoms related to Parkinson's disease are as follows:

Loss of automatic movements.

Fatigue.

Difficulty swallowing.

Nightmares.

Depression.

Micrographia (small, cramped handwriting).

Difficulty walking or buttoning clothes.

Tremor.

Slowed motion (bradykinesia).

Treatment of Parkinson's disease

Here is list of the methods for treating Parkinson's disease:

Parlodel is a useful drug for Parkinson's disease.

Tolcapone

Pramipexole.

Trihexyphenidyl.

Selegiline (Eldepryl): This drug, used with or without carbidopa-levodopa therapy, helps prevent the breakdown of both naturally occurring dopamine and dopamine formed from levodopa.

Other treatment approaches, including general lifestyle modifications (rest and exercise), physical therapy, speech therapy, will be covered in Maintaining Optimal Wellness.

Various forms of surgical treatment are available to control movement disorders when medications are ineffective.

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Both James S. Pendergraft & Juliet Cohen are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

James S. Pendergraft has sinced written about articles on various topics from Health, Alternative Medicine and Bacterial Vaginosis. Dr. James S. Pendergraft opened the Orlando Women's Center in March 1996.. James S. Pendergraft's top article generates over 12100 views. to your Favourites.

Juliet Cohen has sinced written about articles on various topics from Skin Cream, Alternative Medicine and Abdominal. Juliet Cohen writes articles for and . S. Juliet Cohen's top article generates over 3350000 views. to your Favourites.