A Reflection On Care For Parkinson 's Disease

Neurology is one of the most unexplored fields in medicine; however, more recently there has been a spike in the amount of research being done in this specialty. This is because people are becoming more interested in neuroscience, including myself. I attended a pre-medical vocational high school, which exposed me to a greater amount of knowledge pertaining to the basics of anatomy and physiology, along with hands-on opportunities in a medical setting. It was here where I realized that I wanted to pursue a career in medicine; however, due to the fact medical field is very broad, I had no set specialty. This changed when I was exposed to the cruel manifestations of Parkinson’s Disease. During, sophomore year of high school, my grandfather passed away due to complications of Parkinson’s Disease. The way that a neurodegenerative disease was able to overtake a person in the manner that it did was shocking, and while it brought me great grief initially, it later intrigued me. I took up an interest in neuroscience and began to do my own research which culminated in various projects and applications throughout the remainder of my time in high school. These experiences have culminated in my decision to work toward a Cell Biology and

J.N., a 65-year-old Caucasian female with a history of anxiety and depression, presents for diagnostic testing at Saint Mary Medical Center in Hobart, Indiana to confirm or deny a diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease, after presenting with recent onset of upper extremity tremor affecting both sides and facial masking. Patient history also includes bradykinesia, restlessness, fatigue, muscle weakness, and poor balance and coordination, all of which are common in a diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease. J.N. was referred to the Neurology Department of Saint Mary Medical Center after a routine appointment with her Cardiologist, who noted the recent onset of additional signs and symptoms. J.N. is my mother and my inspiration for this assignment.

Ramig and colleagues (2001) performed a study to examine the long-term effects of using Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) to improve vocal function in individuals with Parkinson’s Disease (PD). Ramig and colleagues (2001) compared LSVT to received respiratory therapy (RET) to control for extraneous variables. Subjects were recruited from a variety of sources which helped to reduce recruitment bias (Ramig et al., 2001). Individuals with any laryngeal pathology unrelated to PD were excluded from the study (Ramig et al., 2001). All 33 subjects were stratified based on: age, time post-diagnosis, stage of disease, score on the unified Parkinson’s disease rating scale, and clinical ratings on speech and voice severity (Ramig et al., 2001). Subjects were then randomly divided into 2 groups and received either LSVT or RET provided in four one-hour weekly sessions for four weeks (Ramig et al., 2001).

The main symptoms and signs of Parkinson’s are bradykinesia, rigidity and rest tremor. Parkinson’s is mainly seen as a movement disorder, but other areas of health problems are associated with it. These include depression and dementia along with autonomic disturbances and pain, although considered to be rare they can present at a later stage of the condition. These rarer symptoms, as they progress, can lead to substantial disability and handicap which harms quality of life for the person living with Parkinson’s, this also has an impact on families and carer’s.

Parkinson 's disease is a progressive neurologic degenerative disease of the Central Nervous system. The brain produces Dopamine and Norepinephrine, which are chemicals needed for smooth muscle movement and coordination, heart rate, and blood pressure. Dopamine and Norepinephrine are released by basal ganglions that are produced in a bundle of nerve cells in the brainstem called substantia nigra. In Parkinson 's patients, the substantia nigra are destroyed and neither of the chemicals can be released into the body. (3) The decrease in Norepinephrine causes heart arrhythmia and low blood pressure, causing the person to get dizzy upon standing or tire easily. The lack of Dopamine, the smooth muscle movement and coordination controller is now gone, or significantly decreased, resulting in the first signs of Parkinson’s disease, pill-rolling, a one handed tremor and a decreased appetite. (2)

The World Health Organization projects that, by 2040, neurodegenerative diseases will become more common than cancer (Cashell, 2014). Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is widely listed as the second most common neurodegenerative disease (Wuong, 2012; Gillies et al., 2014; Cashell, 2014; Walker, Davidson, & Gray, 2012). This disease, usually characterized by a tremor, but featuring systemic effects, has been diagnosed in one to two percent of people over age 65 (Casey, 2013). Parkinson’s disease is incurable; the goal of the healthcare team is to help the patient to maintain function, independence and quality of life (Miertová et al., 2014; Magennis, Lynch, & Corry, 2014). In the discussion that follows, current understanding of the causes and treatment of PD will be summarized, along with examples of nursing interventions.

The South Dakota Parkinson’s Foundation offers support groups in various communities in South Dakota. These communities include Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Aberdeen, Brookings, Mitchell, Viborg, Watertown, and Yankton. Apart from Viborg, all of these locations are larger population centers. It is obviously important for these locations to have these support groups, however we are neglecting the rural populations of the state. Also, several of these locations are located reasonably close to each other. I believe we can expand these types of programs to the western side of the state as well, not just Rapid

When people hear the words Parkinson’s disease they think, “Isn’t that what Michael J. Fox has?” For those who are asking, “Who is Michael J. Fox?” He was the character Marty McFly in the “Back to the Future” movie and played on many TV shows. After being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, he set up an organization to research Parkinsonism. What the Michael J. Fox Foundation found was that 40 percent of the people living with Parkinson’s disease experience dystonia as an early symptom or a complication of treatment. This is the only blurb you see on the website about dystonia. In fact, it is so much like the other disorders out there that many people have never heard of it. The purpose of this paper is to inform

For many 50 year olds, tasks such as writing or walking can be easily preformed without much attention. In fact, the term “task” seems to stress that there is a greater level of effort than is truly exerted in order for the average person to perform these actions. However, for a patient of Parkinson’s Disease who is diagnosed on average at the age of 50, these every day activities take a great deal of time, attention, and effort to be preformed (Huston). With the growth of research about this disease, a variety of treatment options ranging from medication to surgery are currently available to patients who suffer from the debilitating effects of Parkinson’s Disease.

Parkinson’s disease, a type of dementia also known as idiopathic or primary parkinsonism, paralysis agitans, or hypokinetic rigid syndrome/HRS, is on the rise in the U.S. Each year there are over 60,000 new cases in the U.S. alone. With the average person diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease over the age of 65 and America’s rapidly growing elderly population, awareness and concern are becoming significant points of interest for many healthcare professionals.

Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease are two degenerative brain diseases that differ in their symptoms, causes, treatment, physical and biological indicators. Per Hooley et al. (2017), Parkinson’ disease is thought to be caused by an extended reduction of dopamine, which the absence of constrains normal neural impulses in the brain. After some time, movements such as tremors, stammered speech, diminished or unintentional body movements are demonstrated. Those that suffer from Parkinson’s disease often have an incapability to swallow and muscle stiffness that affects muscles in their faces with mental deterioration occurring as the disease progresses. Parkinson’s disease can be traced to gender and genetics and most of those affected are men that have a family history of the disease (APA, 2013). Treatment for Parkinson’s disease encompasses dopamine precursors to increase the presence of dopamine.

Mr. Vallee is a 52-year-old male here today complaining of a lump on the left side of the back of his head.

Parkinson disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized mainly by physical and psychological disabilities. This disorder was named after James Parkinson, an English physician who first described it as shaking palsy in 1817 (Goetz, Factr, and Weiner, 2002). Jean- Martin Charcot, who was a French neurologist, then progressed and further refined the description of the disease and identified other clinical features of PD (Goetz, Factr, and Weiner, 2002). PD involves the loss of cells that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine in a part of the brain stem called the substansia nigra, which results in several signs and symptoms (Byrd, Marks, and Starr, 2000). It is manifested clinically by tremor,

Parkinson’s Disease is a long-term progressive neurodegenerative disease consisting of motor system impairment, neuropsychiatric, and nonmotor features. The disease is characterized by the following key clinical features: bradykinesia, resting tremor, postural instability, and rigidity. These symptoms are due to the diminishing of dopamine in the nigrostriatal pathway and substantia nigra, which causes inhibition of the thalamus decreasing excitatory input to the motor cortex.1 Along with the key manifestations an individual with Parkinson’s Disease will experience problems associated with the disease or the antiparkinson medications. These co-occurring problems are hallucinations, dementia, daytime sleepiness, fatigue, depression, and pyschosis.2 Psychosis is a common problem in Parkinson’s Disease, and is characterized by paranoid delusions and hallucinations that are visual in nature.2 Risk factors for psychosis consists of advancing age, dementia, sleep disorders, and high doses of antiparkinson drugs.1

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder in the world. Since an increasing number of people are reaching a high age, it is predicted that also the prevalence of Parkinson’s disease will be higher in the future. The symptoms of the disease are both motor symptoms like tremor and impairment of the gait, but along with that, psychological symptoms and memory loss are evident in many cases.