Insights on Parkinson's Disease
Hi Steemians, I am @neurosurgery and I I'll be doing something on an a terrible disease condition called Parkinson's Disease. Let's delve straight into it.
WHAT IS PARKINSON’S DISEASE?
Parkinson’s disease is an illness that affects the part of your brain that controls how you move your body.
It can come on so slowly that you don’t even notice it at first. But over time, what start as a little shakiness in your hand can have an impact on how walk, sleep, talk and think.
You are more likely to get it when you are 60 years old and older. It is also possible for it to start when you are younger at the age of 50 years.
It is also a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system.
WHAT DOES PARKINSON’S DISEASE DOES TO THE BRAIN?
In the brain,there is an area called the substantia nigra. Some of its cells makes dopamine, a chemical that carries messages around your brain.
For instance, if you want to kick a ball, dopamine quickly carries a message to the nerve cell that controls that movement. When you have Parkinson’s disease, the cell of the substantia nigra start to die.
Early on, you won’t notice anything different. But as more and more cells die, you will begin to see symptoms.
HOW DOES PARKINSON’S DISEASE AFFECT THE BODY?
As at 2015, Parkinson’s disease affected 6.2 million people and resulted in 117,400 deaths globally. The noticeable symptoms in Parkinson’s disease are movement related (motor).
Non-motor symptoms, which include autonomic dysfunction, neuropsychiatric problem (mood, cognition, behaviour or thought alteration), and sensory (especially altered sense of smell) and sleep difficulties.
Four motor symptoms are: tremor, slowness of movement, rigidity and postural instability.
Slow movement: You may find that even simple acts like wearing your clothe, takes much longer time than usual.
Tremor: Your hands, arms, legs, lips, jaws or tongue are shaking when they are not in use.
Parkinson’s disease can also cause a range of other issues, from depression to bladder problem.
WHAT CAUSES PARKINSON’S DISEASE?
Doctor aren’t sure why all those brain cells start drying. But,there are two factors responsible for it and they are:Environmental factors and genetics.
Environmental factors
Exposure to pesticides and head injury have been linked with Parkinson disease. Low concentration of irate in the blood serum is associated with an increase risk of Parkinson’s disease.
Genetics
Around 15%of individuals with Parkinson’s disease have a first degree relative who have this disease, and 5-10 % of people with Parkinson’s disease are known to have forms of the disease that occur because of mutation in one of several specific genes.
Several Parkinson’s related genes are involved in the function of lysosomes, organelles that digest cellular waste products.
It has been suggested that some cases of Parkinson’s disease may be caused by “lysosomes dysfunctions”.
TEST FOR PARKINSON’S DISEASE
There is no one test for Parkinson’s .The test is based on the symptoms and health history, it will some time before it will be figured out.
If you do have it, your doctor might use what’s called John and Yahr scale to tell you what stage of the disease you are in.
Management of Parkinson’s Disease
Drugs for Parkinson’s can of ten help with tremors, stiff muscles and slow movements.
Your doctor many suggest physical therapy and speech therapy, based on how it affects you and in some cases, you may need surgery.
How Does Parkinson’s Disease Affect My Life?
For some people, treatment keeps the symptoms at bay, and they are mostly mild. For others, the disease is much more serious and really limits what you are able to do.
As it get worse, it makes it harder to do daily activities like getting out of bed, driving etc. Even writing can seem like tough task and later, it can cause dementia.
Parkinson's disease, like I said earlier, it is a disease that affect you at old age and this can easily be prevented by taking drugs prescribed from the doctor immediately you noticed any symptoms of this disease.
REFERENCES
Parkinson's Disease Symptoms, Causes, Stages, Treatment, and Life Expectancy
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