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.
Although Parkinson’s is referred to as a disease, its definite cause has not been specified. Common causes that have been indicated as being responsible for causing Parkinson’s Disease include genetics, toxins, cerebral anoxia, head trauma and drug related issues. Despite these causes, an ailment qualifies as a disease because of a collection of signs and symptoms which emerge together. In order to qualify as a disease, the problem would have to have a root cause incorporating that a single cure should work in every Parkinson’s case.
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.
There’s also the free radical theory, which suggests that unstable free radical molecules are responsible for the onset of Parkinson’s, probably because of the injurious effects they have when reacting with iron for oxidation. This theory evolved because many patients with Parkinson’s have been found to have abnormally high leaves of iron in their brain.
There is no cure for Parkinson’s at present, drugs are used to try to control symptoms of Parkinson’s. The most widely used form of treatment is L-dopa in various forms. L-dopa is transformed into dopamine in the dopaminergic neurons by L-aromatic amino acid decarboxylase (often known by its former name dopa-decarboxylase). The most widely practiced treatment for the speech disorders associated with Parkinson’s disease is Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT). LSVT focuses on increasing vocal loudness. Regular physical exercise and/or therapy can be beneficial to the patient for maintaining and improving mobility, flexibility, balance and a range of motion. Nutrients have been used in clinical studies and are widely used by people with Parkinson’s disease in order to partially treat PD or slow down its deterioration.
