Parkinson Disease - Research Paper Example

Parkinson Disease School Affiliation Parkinson disease is a deadly health disorder, which mainly affects the elderly population over 60 years. The disease got its name from James Parkinson, who revealed about this disease to the medical field in 19th century. Parkinson disease affects the motor functioning of a person and it is caused due to the degeneration of the nerve cells in the brain. The patients of Parkinson disease suffer from many mental and physical problems. Interestingly, low dopamine level has been detected among the patients of Parkinson diseases, but the reason for this is unidentified. Unfortunately , there is no known treatment for this disease, as there is no knowledge about the real scientific reason behind this disease. The only way by which this disease can be controlled is to suppress the symptoms by medication and attend to physical therapies. Topic : Parkinson Disease Parkinson disease is an age related health disorder which disrupts the mental and physical functioning of a person. It is a degenerative disease, which obstructs the neurological and bodily functioning of a person. It is a disease which affects the muscle control of a person and this leads to limb and head trembling, stiffness and impaired balance in a person. With the hike in symptoms, the patient undergo serious problem in talking, moving and performing daily household activities. According to (Koutousis,2012)“Parkinsons disease is one of the most common movement disorders, affecting 1% of people older than 60 years. PD is about 1.5 times more common in men than in women, and it becomes more common as you age”. The onset age of Parkinson disease is around 60 years and symptoms before 40 years is generally rare. The degree of impairment and progression of the disease usually vary among different individuals. Most people with Parkinson disease are seen to lead a productive life , while some fall prey to disability and dysfunction quickly. Usually death occurs to Parkinson patients due to falling and injury because of their weakened bodily movements. Factually, millions of people are affected by Parkinson disease in developed and developing world but the life expectancy of patients is increasing which is good news. Interestingly, Parkinson disease is not a new disease, as it has existed before thousands of years according to ancient historical records. History of Parkinson disease The mention about Parkinson disease can be seen beyond 5000 B.C. It has been revealed that this disease was found among people of India and was treated with help of a plant seed. This seed contained therapeutic properties and cured the disease in a natural manner. In Indian science of medical system called “ Ayurveda”, Parkinson was called kampavata. Around 175 A.D, it was physician Galen described this disease as “ shaking palsy”. This health disorder achieved its name from English doctor, James Parkinson who elaborated it in a descriptive manner during 1817. He studied the disease more vividly and published an essay about it in early 19 the century which gave recognition to the disease. However, the disease was neglected for a long time until a French neurologist rediscovered the study of James Parkinson. It was after 60 years, the French neurologist named Jean Martin Charcot studied deeply s the work of Parkinson and understood its importance and gave his name to the disease. The disease has been studied by different personalities deeply but the cause of Parkinson disease still remains as a mystery. Medical expert knew that this degenerative illness is caused because of the imbalance of dopamine in the brain but the reason for this chemical imbalance was unclear. Later, in 1960 the nature of the diseases was recognized which was dopamine related degeneration in the nerve cells of the brain. Fortunately, in 1960, a medicine called Levodopa got introduced for treating Parkinson disease and was set as a high standard medication. Symptoms of Parkinson disease The Parkinson disease has many symptoms which occur due to the disruptive motor functioning .Usually, the primary symptom of this disease is seen on one side of the body. The symptoms are not severe in the beginning, but becomes forceful as the disease progress in the body . Apart from motor symptoms, Parkinson disease also display non motor symptom which can deteriorate the health of a patient from many dimensions.. According to (Lyons,2011) 308-313 “The NMSS has 9 dimensions, including cardiovascular, sleep/fatigue, mood/cognition, perceptual problems, attention/memory, gastrointestinal tract abnormalities, urinary tract abnormalities ,sexual dysfunction, and miscellaneous symptoms”. Nevertheless, some of the symptoms can be elaborated as follows : Tremors : The most evident symptom of Parkinson disease in a person is the trembling of hands, head, legs, jaws and feet. This tremor is detectable in a patient only while he is at rest. In the initial stages, trembling is present, but it does not obstruct the performance of simple tasks by the patient. Rigidity : The patients of Parkinson disease suffer from rigidity in particular areas of the body which is trunk and limbs. This is experienced commonly by patients while indulging in physical activity like walking, climbing stairs or performing household chores. Rigidity is also a cause for pain and aches in muscles of the patient’s body. The rigidity also affects the writing ability of the patient as they can experience cramping of the fingers and hand. Bradykinesia : This symptom weakens the voluntary movement of the patient. As time progress, the patient finds it difficult to make bodily movements and experience problem in initiating and completing regular tasks in life. Bradykinesia along with stiffness can give rise to stiffness of facial muscles and makes a Parkinson diseased person less expressive or project a “mask like” expression. Postural instability : Postural disability is another evident symptom of Parkinson disease, where in the person acquires defective reflexes which obstruct the posture maintenance while sitting, sleeping or walking. This also is the cause of falls among diseased people. Parkinsonian gait: This is the symptom visible in patients who are at a later stage of Parkinson disease. Here the person projects a peculiar shuffled walking pattern with a stooping position and diminished movement of arms. The diseased person will experience difficulty in walking and also in making twists and turns and even may freeze in the middle of stride and can fall towards front while walking. While these are the primary symptoms of Parkinson disease, the patient also displays some secondary symptoms which are noticed in the later stages of the disease. These can be explained further in a concise manner : Anxiety and depression: The person affected by Parkinson disease also gets impacted by anxiety and depression. The anxiety is due to the impairing of nerves in the brain and it affects the quality of life of the diseased. Depression is also a dangerous mental illness which can even take the life of a person as they get tempted to commit suicide. Dementia : Dementia and memory loss is another serious health problem present among the patients of Parkinson disease. Here the affected person can display poor alertness and attention while performing a specific task or indulging in daily chores of life. As per (Kemp,2012) “Dementia is a less common feature of Parkinson’s disease. Approximately 20% of people with Parkinson’s disease will develop Parkinson’s Disease Dementia .Parkinson’s patients who experience hallucinations and more severe motor control problems are at risk for dementia”. Constipation and increased sweating : The person with Parkinson disease also experience poor bowel movements and this can cause irritation among the patients. This can also affect the appetite of patients as they can feel bloated and heavy. The increased sweating is due to the weak temperature controlling power of the body. Cardiovascular problems : This is another autonomic dysfunction faced by Parkinson diseased person and it is called orthostatic hypertension. Along with this, the patient will also suffer from lowered blood pressure which can ultimately lead to falls and injury . Diminished sense of smell and excessive salivation ; The diseased person also will have a weak sensing of smell and this create confusion among patient to a great level. Apart from this, excessive salivation also is present among ill person due to impaired brain functioning. The cause of Parkinson disease Parkinson disease is a serious brain disorder which can trigger many complications in the health of the patient. The medical field has revealed that dopamine is the main cause of Parkinson disease. This chemical called dopamine is the communicator between different regions of brain. The brain areas called substantia nigra and corpus striatum needs dopamine to function effectively. In the absence of dopamine, these two regions of brain becomes disruptive in functioning and this can hamper the whole working of nervous system .Due to the malfunctioning of nervous system, the bodily movements and cognitive functioning of the parkinson affected person becomes uncontrolled and in chaos. If the brain does not produce required amount of dopamine, then substantia nigra and corpus striatum becomes inactive and this results in abrupt bodily movements in patients. Generally, as the dopamine gets lower, higher is the chance for the patient to experience disruptive bodily movements. The low level of dopamine also causes degeneration in the brain cells which further result in non –movement related symptoms. Here the main cause of low dopamine production is the degeneration in the brain cells which produce this chemical. Many pathological and genetic studies indicate that malfunctioning in the cellular procedures, stress and inflammation can be few reasons for the damage in dopamine generating cells. Moreover, the detection of clumps known as lewy bodies seen in Parkinson diseased people raise many question among medical and scientific experts regarding the real cause of this disorder. However, the scientists assume that the origination of Parkinson disease is due to genetic problems and environmental factors. Diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson disease. The diagnosis of Parkinson disease is done by physicians on the symptoms projected by the Parkinson diseased patient and by conducting certain physical examination on them. Generally, the symptoms of this disease are difficult to understand, especially in case of older people. They become more evident as the illness gets worsened. As per (Waters,2008,pg.19)“According to some patients, symptoms appeared only during periods of stress, and then subsided only to reappear several years later”. Usually, the doctor’s examination may depict difficulty in bodily movements, muscle atrophy, tremors, stiff or jerky movements and variation in heart rate. The doctor also should conduct test to rule out the existence of other disorder which may portray same symptoms. When it is the question o f treatment of Parkinson disease, there is no proper cure yet discovered for it. The treatment is done to the patients only with an intention to control symptoms.The medication helps in controlling the symptoms of the disease by enhancing the production of dopamine in the brain. Nevertheless, the effects of medication can wear off during the day time and symptoms can reappear. In such a case, the patient should consult health care provider and make needed change in the medication, its dosage and the way medication is taken It is also recommendable to the patients to work closely with doctors and therapists to find a proper treatment program to secure the health and safety. Conclusion Parkinson in real terms can be describes as a motor system disorder, wherein the patient experience a combination of deadly symptoms. This disease is progressive as well as chronic and creates many difficulties and discomfort in its patients who are mostly elderly people. The elderly people affected by Parkinson are unable to conduct their daily life activities and become burden to the family and society. In most cases, these patients are taken care by care givers and social workers. The Parkinson disease is a major disease found among citizens of developed countries like America, United Kingdom and Germany. The reason for this health disorder can only be defined as hereditary. The only cause of Parkinson disease so far can be related to the absence of adequate amount of dopamine in the brain of a patient. Even though, this disease is controlled by limiting its symptoms with the aid of several medication, therapy and counseling also plays an important role in handling this disease. In fact, the people affected by Parkinson disease must be educated extensively regarding the nature of the disease and features of the medication given. Since, the cause of this disease is unknown, recommendation of proper medication for Parkinson diseases is difficult. However, it is highly advisable to the government and scientific world to conduct research and experiment to discover the cause and reason behind this dangerous illness. This would enable medical field to come up with right medication and treatment for Parkinson disease, which would be blessing to the whole population who is suffering from this dangerous disease. References Koutouzis, T. K. (2012). Parkinsons Disease. In emedicinehealth.com. Retrieved November 21, 2012, from http://www.emedicinehealth.com/parkinson_disease/article_em.htm Kemp, G. (2012, November). Parkinsons Disease and Parkinsons Dementia. In helpguide.org. Retrieved November 22, 2012, from http://www.helpguide.org/elder/parkinsons_disease.htm Lyons, K. E. (2011). The Impact and Management of Nonmotor Symptoms. The American journal of Managed Care, 17(12), 308-313. Waters, C. H. (2008). Diagnosis and Management of Parkinsons Disease, 6th Ed (p. 19). Caddo, OK: Professional Communication Inc Images and pictures below Fig 1 : The region of brain affected by Parkinson disease Fig 2 : Image of physical examination of the patient Fig :3 Image of decreased activity in brain Read More