Parkinsons Disease

• 2020-08-20

The disorder that I’m going to discuss in this article is the one which I’m sure many of you have not heard of. But it’s important for all of us to have a good amount of information about the disorders that can affect our family members in the future so we should know about it so that prior cautions and treatment can be given. It is a disorder in which your beloveds need your care, love, support, and warmth because they are not in a condition to be capable of doing each and everything smoothly like before. So in spite of distancing them from you because of the tedious care and support required, be their backbone and give them all the happiness and attention they require and expect from you.

                   So let’s know what exactly Parkinson’s disease is –

           Parkinson’s disease is a disorder that progressively affects the nervous system of the body, therefore, affecting the movements of the person. The symptoms are barely visible at the beginning as just a little bit of tremors but then it gets worsen when a person suffers from stiffness or slowing of movement, difficulty in walking or talking, slurring of speech, several mental and behavioral changes, etc. develop as the condition progresses over time.  

SYMPTOMS:

The symptoms of this disease are different for everyone. Initially, the symptoms are mild and unnoticeable but get prominent and worsen as the condition progresses over time. The main symptoms are:

a) Tremors or shaking are usually common at first occurrences. The person’s hand, limbs, and fingers shake even at rest.

b) The person’s motor movements get hampered due to this disorder like the person walk gets slow, the steps get short and simple daily tasks involving the movements becomes difficult for them to perform.

c) The stiffness of the muscles can occur which can cause a lot of pain in the muscles and also limits a person’s range of motion.

d) As the motor movements get hampered it is obvious that the posture and balance of the person will also be affected. The person faces difficulty in walking due to imbalance and distortions in his posture.

e) As the disorder affects the nervous system of the body, it in turn affects the involuntary movements as well as the blinking of eyes, automatic smile, swinging of arms while walking, etc.

f) The speech of the person may become soft, slurry, or tremble before or during the talk. The speech will not have any expressions, will be usually flat and monotonous.

g) The writing pattern changes and can also become hard for a person to write smoothly and properly and it tends to appear smaller than usual.

-It’s important for us to know what the main reasons are or causes for having Parkinson’s disease and so the main CAUSES are:

             The main and foremost cause of having Parkinson’s is the loss of nerve cells in a part of the brain known as substantia nigra. The cells in this part are responsible for producing a chemical known as dopamine. This chemical helps in connecting the brain to the nervous system and thus helping in the control and coordination of the body parts. If these nerve cells get affected or die then this leads to a reduction of the amount of dopamine. This disorder starts to develop only when 80% of these cells die and it is a slow process.

1) GENETICS: Parkinson’s disease can be caused due to familial transmission but it happens rarely in terms of this disease. Other genetic factors are still unclear.

2) Environmental factors: it has been found out that pesticides and herbicides used in industries, traffic, or farming can also increase the risk of developing it but the real link of environmental factors to this disease is still not clear.

3) Some other causes of this disease include the intake of some type of medications for a long period of time and the consequences are shown after its continuous consumption. Some medical problems related to the brain can also have a risk of developing this disease. Heart diseases like cardiovascular disease can be the reason as well because the strokes or the attacks caused due to it can with time make the cells of the brain-damaged or die.

PREVALENCE: The new research studies show that men are 1.5 times more likely to develop the disease as compared to women. According to the facts, there is no appropriate data that can be studied upon for this disease from India.  But it can be said that the prevalence rate above 60 years of age was 247/100,000.

TREATMENT – it is also important for us to know how to reach out and help the people with this disease.

Currently, there is no permanent cure to this disease but there can be some techniques that can help these people relieve the symptoms and live a better life.

The treatments consist of:

a) Physiotherapy: this technique can be used to relieve a person from the stiffness of his muscles and pain in his joints and he could be able to walk with ease and have a little flexibility. 

b) Occupational therapy: this therapy can improve a person’s daily life routines through applying such solutions which could make these tasks easier for them to do.

c) Speech and Language therapy: this therapy can be given to improve a person’s language and speaking problems by doing certain speaking and swallowing exercises etc.

d) A planned diet should be followed like having a good amount of salt to reduce the problems of blood pressure and dizziness, having a meal with all the nutrients to avoid weight loss, and having more fiber in meals to reduce the problems of constipation.

e) Medication: Medicines that can regulate trembling and shaking problems can be given for a stipulated amount of time forex- levodopa.