Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson’s disease, or PD for short, is a degenerative type of disorder that affects the central nervous system. It often affects the speech, motors skills and other functions of the individual suffering from the disease. Parkinson’s disease is a form of movement disorder. Parkinson’s disease can be characterized by slowing or total loss of physical movement, tremors, and muscle rigidity. The main symptoms are the result of decreased stimulation of the basal ganglia to the motor cortex. This happens when there is a decrease in the production of dopamine. The secondary symptoms are can include subtle language problems and a high level of cognitive dysfunction. Parkinson’s disease is a progressive and chronic disease. Parkinson’s disease is the most common cause of progressive chronic parkinsonism. This refers to the syndrome of postural instability, bradykinesia, rigidity and tremor. Parkinson’s disease can sometimes be called “idiopathic PD” or “primary parkinsonism”. While many cases of PD show no known cause, the “secondary” cases can result from drug toxicity, other medical disorder or head trauma. The disease was named after James Parkinson, an English physician.

Parkinson’s disease is the same as primary parkinsonism. It produces motor and non-motor symptoms. Motor symptoms include tremors, rigidity, bradykinesia (and sometimes akinesia), and postural instability. There can also be symptoms of postural and gait disturbances, swallowing and speech disturbances, as well as other symptoms like fatigue, micrographia, hypomimia, and akathisia. Parkinson’s disease can also cause neuropsychiatric problems like slowed reaction time, executive dysfunction, dementia, and even short-term memory loss. Because of these neuropsychiatric problems, common mood problems like depression, anxiety and apathy may arise. Individuals suffering from Parkinson’s disease may also have sleeping problems like excessive daytime somnolence and insomnia. Individuals may also suffer from impaired properception, neuropathic, tendon, joints and muscle pains, rigidity, loss of sense of smell.

Most cases of Parkinson’s disease are idiopathic, but there are cases that are genetic, some are caused by toxins, and some are even caused by head trauma. Individuals suffering from Parkinson’s disease can be examined using the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale. The disease can be diagnosed using a scanning machine called the DaTSCAN. Once diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, an individual can be treated using Levodopa, dopamine agents, and MAO-B inhibitors. Deep brain stimulation and surgery can also be used to treat extreme cases of Parkinson’s disease.

New Device Limits Parkinson's Symptoms

A new device can improve physical mobility and functionality of those suffering from Parkinson's Disease.  The device is similar to a pacemaker, and is placed in the patient's chest.  The device connects to the brain through electrodes lined up to the head.  Electric currents trigger the improvements by stimulating brain activity.  Surgery to implant the device can be dangerous, and has shown adverse effects in up to twenty percent of those treated.  Patients helped by the treatment showed improvements in communication and mental cognition.  These improvements helped improve the social skills of those treated.