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.
Causes
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.
