09 Feb What Is Parkinson’s Disease? Know All About It Here
Parkinson’s disease is a chronic movement disorder, named after Dr. James Parkinson, who first identified this condition. More than 4 million people across the world suffer from this disease, which has no permanent cure, but treatments help maintain the quality of life of the patients.
What happens in Parkinson’s disease?
When a person is infected with Parkinson’s disease, his brain progressively stops producing dopamine, a neurotransmitter that is produced by brain cells. Dopamine is responsible for relaying messages to different parts of the body to have smooth coordinated muscle movements throughout the body. Thus, when Parkinson’s disease attacks, less dopamine is produced, which makes it difficult for the patient to coordinate movement of his muscles.
What causes Parkinson’s disease?
Although the specific reason for Parkinson’s disease is unknown, it has been seen that specific genetic mutation is responsible for it, which is a neurodegenration disease. Also, there could be clumps of widespread protein known as alpha-synuclein within the neurons that may be responsible for this ailment. Another reason could be heredity, with the disease being transferred from an ancestor into the progressing family members. This ailment is seen to begin in the mid or late age, and is then seen to only increase. And, men are more prone to this disease than women. However, there are certain Parkinson’s disease patients who are able to live full productive lives, while there are others who get disabled more quickly. Therefore, the symptoms and effects of this disease vary from person to person.
How can Parkinson’s disease be diagnosed?
There are four basic signals that can alert one of Parkinson’s disease. These include –
Tremor – This is when shaking or shivering is seen in hands or fingers when the body is at rest. It is generally seen on one side of the body when the person is at rest.
Rigidity – This can be identified when the person is trying to move a joint, but is unable to. The patient feels pain due to stiffness in the joints.
Slow movement – The patient will over time find it difficult to move, making routine activities difficult. Steps become shorter, slowly leading to dragging of the feet.
Imbalance – During a later stage of Parkinson’s disease, the patient may experience poor posture with drooping shoulders and shuffling feet.
Other problems that can be faced as Parkinson’s disease increases include fatigue, sleeping problems, excessive salivation, depression, change in speech, swallowing problems, constipation, lack of facial expression, tiredness, bladder problems, smaller handwriting, decreased sense of smell, visual hallucinations, change in blood pressure, and memory loss.
Stages of Parkinson’s disease
Stage 1 – No to mild symptoms of tremor, change in walking, change of posture, or change in facial expressions are seen, which generally do not interfere with everyday routines.
Stage 2 – Tremors now start affecting both sides of the bosy with twitching face expression and prominent posture problems.
Stage 3 – Loss of balance become frequent with cases of falling or slow and weird movements. Also, activities of dressing up and eating become affected.
Stage 4 – Constant help is required with the daily activities.
Stage 5 – The patient is bed-ridden and requires a 24×7 caretaker.
How is Parkinson’s disease treated?
As mentioned above, there is no permanent cure of Parkinson’s disease. But, doctors suggest medications to help control the symptoms and delay progression of the ailment. Medications like carbidopa-levodopa, dopamine agonists, and MAO-B inhibitors are generally given. Other than that, a Parkinson’s disease specialist in UAE like Dr. Shivam Mittal, can perform surgical procedures of deep brain stimulation, wherein electrodes are implanted into the brain, which are connected to a generator implanted in the chest, to send electrical pulses to the brain, thus reducing the symptoms. Other alternatives that can bring relief include yoga and acupuncture.
