The Parkinson’s Disease Foundation estimates that more than 10 million people are living with Parkinson's disease worldwide. Parkinson’s disease is more common in men by one and a half times. Incidence of Parkinson’s disease increases with age, but an estimated 4% of people with Parkinson’s disease are diagnosed before the age of 50.
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive disorder of the nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually develop gradually. The primary and most obvious motor symptoms are resting tremor, slowness of movement, muscle stiffness, and postural instability. Thinking and behavioral problems may also occur. Prominent cognitive problems become common in the advanced stages of the disease.
The direct cause of Parkinson's disease is unknown, but both genetic and environmental factors may play a role. Persons with a family member who has Parkinson’s disease and people who are exposed to certain pesticides are more likely to get the disease than others.
The disease results from the death of the cells in the substantia nigra of the midbrain, causing dopamine deficiency. The reason for why these cells die is not understood enough, but involves the build-up of proteins into Lewy bodies in the neurons.
Diagnosis of typical cases is mainly based on symptoms, with some tests, such as neuroimaging, to rule out other diseases.
There is no specific treatment for Parkinson's disease. Medications are generally used treat Parkinson’s disease. These medications include levodopa, and dopamine agonists. Alzheimer’s diseases medications become less efficient as the diseases progresses and may cause complications.
There is no known way to prevent Alzheimer’s disease, but certain measures, such physical activity, may help reduce the risk.
According to Parkinson's Disease Foundation, more than 10 million people worldwide live with Parkinson's disease. Parkinson’s disease is more common in men than in women.
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive disorder of the nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. It develops gradually, starting with a hardly obvious tremor in just one hand. A tremor may be the most well-known sign of Parkinson’s disease. The disorder usually causes stiffness or slowing of movement. In the early stages of Parkinson’s disease, the face may show little or no expression, or the arm may not swing during walking. Speech may become soft or slurred. As the condition progresses over time, the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease become worse.
The direct cause of the nerve cell loss associated with Parkinson’s disease is unknown, but several factors, such as genetics and environmental factors appear to play a role.
Risk factors that increase the probability of getting Parkinson's disease include:
* Genetics: The exact way of how genetics make some people more susceptible to the disease is unclear. A number of genetic factors have been shown to increase a person's risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. In rare cases with many family members affected by the disease, specific genetic mutations occur that can cause it.
* Environmental factors: Exposure to certain environmental factors like pesticides and herbicides used in farming, or being exposed to toxins resulting from industrial pollution, for instance, may increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, but the risk is relatively small.
* Age: The risk of having Parkinson’s disease increases with age. Usually, people develop the disease around age 60 or older.
* Gender: Men are more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease than women.
No specific, standard criteria exist for the neuropathological diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, as the specificity and sensitivity of its characteristics have not been clearly established. However, two major neuropathologic findings have been proposed in Parkinson’s disease.
The first is loss of pigmented dopaminergic neurons in a part of the substantia nigra known as pars compacta. The substantia nigra is a structure in the midbrain that helps control movement and coordination. The loss of dopamine neurons occurs most prominently in the ventral lateral substantia nigra. The majority of dopaminergic neurons are lost before the motor signs of Parkinson’s disease emerge.
In normal humans, signals from the cerebral cortex are processed through the basal ganglia-thalamocortical motor circuit and return to the same area via a feedback pathway. Output from the motor circuit is directed through the internal segment of the globus pallidus and the substantia nigra pars reticulata.
Two pathways exist within the basal ganglia circuit, the direct and indirect pathways. Dopamine is released from the substantia nigra pars compacta to activate the direct pathway and inhibit the indirect pathway. In Parkinson’s disease, decreased striatal dopamine causes increased inhibitory output of the motor circuit via both the direct and indirect pathways.
The other neuropathologic finding in Parkinson’s diseases is the abnormal build-up of protein deposits, known as Lewy bodies, in neurons.
Parkinson’s disease symptoms vary from person to person, and usually start mild and may go unnoticed as they develop gradually. According to Parkinson's Disease Foundation, the symptoms of the disease are classified into:
Parkinson’s disease is usually diagnosed based on medical history, detailed discussion of symptoms, and neurological and physical examinations. The doctor may perform a general physical examination using reflex tests, sensitivity to pain or pressure and agility to evaluate, for instance, whether the joints can be moved normally or if the muscles put up resistance.
The best objective testing for Parkinson’s disease consists of specialized brain scanning techniques that can measure the dopamine system and brain metabolism, but these tests are performed only in specialized imaging centers and can be very expensive.
Currently, there are no medications that can cure Parkinson’s disease, but treatments can be useful in controlling the symptoms of the disease and maintaining patient’s quality of life.
These treatments include:
Commonly, the doctor will prescribe different types of medication, including:
There are two surgical procedures that may be performed on patients with Parkinson’s disease:
Several supportive therapies can help make life easier for patients with Parkinson’s disease. These supportive therapies include:
Some dietary practices are useful in managing the symptoms of the disease. Dietary changes need to be discussed with patient’s doctor to avoid unwanted complications:
In addition to motion difficulties, tremors in Parkinson’s disease can initiate several non-motor problems that have physical and emotional influences on patients and their families. These include:
The prevention strategies of Parkinson’s disease are unknown, because the direct cause of Parkinson’s disease is unknown. However, caffeine which is found in coffee and tea and green tea may reduce the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. Doing aerobic exercises regularly may reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease.
Parkinson’s disease is not a fatal disease, but it can decrease longevity. The disease develops faster in older patients and may cause severe disability within 10 - 20 years. Also, older patients tend to have more muscle freezing and greater diminishing in mental and daily functions. If the tremor appears as an early sign of the disease, the patient’s health status is likely to be less severe than if the tremor had not been present.
The way Parkinson’s diseases progresses and the rate at which it does is different from person to person, i.e. some patients may become severely disabled, while others only experience minor motor symptoms.
The disease progresses from mild to moderate and then to severe, but the disease never advances to become severe in many patients. The stages if Parkinson’s disease are:
Mild Parkinson’s disease
Moderate Parkinson’s disease
Severe Parkinson’s disease
The Parkinson’s Disease Foundation estimates that more than 10 million people are living with Parkinson's disease worldwide. Parkinson’s disease is more common in men by one and a half times. Incidence of Parkinson’s disease increases with age, but an estimated 4% of people with Parkinson’s disease are diagnosed before the age of 50.