Clinical Reasoning Cycle Essay

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)

Parkinson’s disease “is described as a common disorder of the brain caused by a progressive deterioration of the areas that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine” (Fischer, 1999). It affects the nervous system, more specifically it affects the nerve cells in your brain that secrete dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical that is responsible for the movement and coordination of the musculoskeletal system.

Parkinson's Disease is a literally crippling neurodegenerative disorder, manifested in about 1% of the aged population. People who have Parkinson's Disease gradually lose control of their movements; specific symptoms include, "tremor, slowness of movement, stiffness, difficulty in walking, and loss of balance." (1) Evidence strongly suggests that Parkinson's Disease is the result of severe cell loss in the substantia nigra. This brain structure is principally involved in the production of dopamine. (2) Dopamine, among other functions, is the neurotransmitter involved in initiation of movement. Hence, the link between dopaminergic cell loss and cessation of voluntary movement, as manifested

Parkinson’s is a progressive neurodegenerative disease, primarily affecting voluntary, precise, and controlled movement. Parkinson’s occurs when cells in a part of the brain called the substantia nigra die off. These cells are responsible for producing dopamine. With less and less dopamine, a person has less and less ability to regulate their movements, body and emotions. The terms "familial Parkinson's disease" and "sporadic Parkinson's disease" are used to differentiate genetic from truly idiopathic forms of the disease.

Abnormal brain activity is caused when low levels of dopamine are decreased, which leads to symptoms of Parkinson's disease. The cause of Parkinson's disease is unknown, but symptoms of the disease are caused by low levels of a chemical in the brain called dopamine. All this information regarding Parkinson's disease is important because it gives us an understanding about what it is and who it normally involves. This disease affects the lives of many people, where it has an effect in their everyday activities. When trying to perform a certain task, their motor system interferes and creates an individual constraint which also plays a role with affecting both task and environmental abilities to perform certain activities that limits and restricts individuals motor movement. Haywood (2009) explains how every individual has their own constraints: individual, task, and environmental, but are limited when it comes to having a type of disorder. The main focus of this literature review is strictly focusing on Parkinsonian gait. Parkinsonian gait is the type of gait that is exhibited by patients who are suffering from Parkinson's disease. This disorder is caused by a lack of dopamine in the basal ganglia circuit leading to motor deficits, making gait one of the most affected motor

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease. Two other names for PD are shaking palsy and Paralysis agitans. Parkinson’s disease is initiated when the cells in the brain that produce dopamine die over time. Dopamine is a brain chemical used by nerve cells that helps to control the body 's muscle movement. Without those brain cells and the dopamine they produce, it becomes increasingly more difficult for the cells that control movement to send messages to the muscles; affecting the body’s movement. As time goes on the damage worsens. There is not a known cause as to why these brain cells die, although there are a few theories ("MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia:

Parkinson’s disease affects the brain of the individual. The disease affects the neurons in the brain that are responsible for producing dopamine. “In short, a person 's brain slowly stops producing a neurotransmitter called dopamine. With less and less dopamine, a person has less and less ability to regulate their movements, body and emotions” (“Understanding”). This leads to the symptoms frequently associated with Parkinson’s. While Parkinson’s disease is experienced differently in each case, there is a generic order in which the disease develops. There are five main stages that can be experienced. Not every patient will reach all stages, and the severity and rapidity varies. As the stages develop, the symptoms increase from mild and manageable, to intense.

Not only does Parkinson’s take away your ability to control your muscles, it also affects the control of your mind. These non-motor symptoms cause disabilities as well as lower the health-related quality of life for patients who are affected (Chaudhuri, 2011). Developing neuropsychiatric and other non-motor symptoms is not uncommon. Depression, anxiety, reduced cognitive function, insomnia, fatigue, and autonomic disturbances have been found in these patients (Poewe). Dementia is another major concern when dealing with Parkinson’s patients. The incidence of dementia occurring is close to eighty percent (Parkinson’s, 2010). Risk factors for the development of dementia include

Parkinson’s Disease usually begins around age 60, but it can start earlier. It is more common in men than in women. A variety of medicines sometimes help symptoms dramatically. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, which means it delivers a message in the central nervous system. Neurotransmitters are endogenous substances that transmit signals across a synapse from one neuron to another “target” neuron or to another nerve fiber, a muscle fiber, or some other structure. There are 5 different dopamine receptors (D1, D2, D3, D4, and D5) that provide for all of the physiological functions of dopamine. An imbalance of dopamine, either by deficiency or in excess, can promote several disorders. Dopamine has a key function in controlling our movements; dopamine is part of the basal

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.

Parkinson Disease is a brain disorder that affects movement, loss of muscle control and balance. The first symptoms usually include a tremor of the hand, foot, or leg which is often termed as a “shaky palsy.” The disease usually slowly progresses with symptoms getting more intense over many years. Some patients who develop Parkinson’s in their younger years have faster, more rapid, symptom signs. Much quicker than those who develop the disease at an older age. Most patients develop the disease after the age of 60 and as of 2017, there is still no cure for Parkinson’s Disease.

Many people have probably heard of Parkinson’s disease, as is it is a relatively common disease, however little know what the disease is, and how it affects your body. Parkinson’s disease is a chronic, progressive, and degenerative disease and what it does, is affect the nerve cells in the brain that produce dopamine. Dopamine is an inhibitory neurotransmitter, and is responsible for balancing acetylcholine. Acetylcholine on the other hand is a facilitory neurotransmitter. what that means is obviously there is now an imbalance in the body’s system. The picture on the left shows how transitions of dopamine differs from a person with Parkinson’s compared to a person without. The other picture shows the activity level

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

Dopamine is a brain chemical/Neurotransmitter that work as messenger signal between the Substantia Nigra to the next relay station of the brain, the corpus striatum which helps to produce smooth coordinate movement and also plays a major role to help control muscle’s movement. With Parkinson’s disease, the brain cells that produce dopamine slowly die, which lead to decrease production of Dopamine. The loss of dopamine causes abnormal nerve firing with brain and the cells that control muscle’s movement by sending the messages to the muscles; due to this it becomes really hard to control muscles movement and cause tremors and various other symptoms such as rigidity and difficulty walking and performing daily tasks. Dopamine is not the only neurotransmitter involved in Parkinson’s Disease. Norepinephrine is very relatively close to dopamine and is also involved in Parkinson’s Disease. Individuals with Parkinson’s Disease have loss of nerve ending that produce norepinephrine. Norepinephrine is a major neurotransmitter for sympathetic nervous system, which control many autonomic functions of our body; it causes increase in blood pressure and heart rate. Loss of norepinephrine can help us explain the non-motor symptoms associated with Parkinson’s Disease such as fatigue, decrease in gastric stability and disruption in cognition. Parkinson’s Disease can be hereditary

Parkinson’s Disease is a very common disorder these days. Over 10 million people live daily with Parkinson worldwide. Parkinson’s Disease was named after an English surgeon James Parkinson who wrote a detailed description essay called Shaking Palsy in 1817. The average age for Parkinson’s Disease is between 45 to 70 years old but you can also have juvenile or young onset as well. Most common symptoms of Parkinson are tremors, bradykinesia or akinesia, or rigidity or stiffness, and balance disorder. Parkinson’s Disease doesn’t have a cure and the cause is unknown it could be a number of things genetics, environmental triggers, age, or gender. Parkinson’s Disease happens because the dopaminergic neuron dies and