How Parkinson's Disease Affects Your Body

Each year more than 60,000 Americans are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (PDF, 2014). That sixty thousand does not include the many thousand cases that go undetected each year. Parkinson’s is a progressive disorder that occurs in the nervous system. This disease affects a person’s movement. Parkinson’s disease develops progressively. The most common first sign of Parkinson’s is slight shaking of a body part. In the initial phase of Parkinson’s a person will experience slurring of speech and an expressionless face (Mayo Clinic, 2014). With time, the symptoms of Parkinson’s exacerbate. This disease is most frequently seen in people over the age of 50 (PDF, 2014). Parkinson’s disease is generated by a great number of reasons.

If you eat unhealthy, fatty foods your whole life, you have a higher risk of developing diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or arteriosclerosis. If you have unprotected sex, you may contract a sexually transmitted disease, such as syphilis, gonorrhea, or HIV/AIDS. But, Parkinson’s doesn’t racially discriminate, nor does it care if someone is wealthy, poor, educated, non-educated, male or female. Anyone can develop Parkinson’s disease. The disease begins in the brain, our most intricate, delicate organ, whose complexity is still not entirely understood, even with today’s technology and experts. The brain intrigues me. I find myself curious about brain

The cause of Parkinson disease, defined by Robert Hauser, who is an author of Medscape, is still unclear. Studies state that there is a combination of environmental and genetic factors for this particular disease. Approximately 10% of cases are currently genetic causes of Parkinson disease. Environmental risk factors such as use of pesticides, living in a rural environment, consumption of well water, exposure to herbicides, and proximity to industrial plants or quarries are commonly associated with the development of Parkinson disease (Hauser, 2016). In addition, according to Hauser, “genetic factors in Parkinson disease appear to be very important when the disease begins at or before age 50 years. In a study of 193 twins, overall concordance for MZ and DZ pairs was similar, but in 16 pairs of twins, in whom Parkinson disease was diagnosed at or before age 50 years, all 4 MZ pairs, but only 2 of 12 DZ pairs, was concordant.The identification of a few families with familial Parkinson disease sparked further interest in the genetics of the disease.

Some experts believe this disease is related to the inhalation of pesticides, while others believe it results from the inhalation of chemical elements such as copper, lead, or manganese. It has been linked to heredity. It is believed that 15% of those diagnosed with the disease have a family history of the mutated gene. Scientists believe there are two types of carriers for this gene that determines a diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease. The first type of carrier guarantees a diagnosis, whereas the second type of carrier only increases the chance of being diagnosed. This theory has yet to be

Parkinson’s disease is a very well-known disease. It plagues about five million people worldwide, about a million of those cases are in the United States. A person does not lower their chances of getting Parkinson’s by living in a certain part of the world. It is not more, likely to happen in one location than, another. It has to do with age and genetics (“Demographics of parkinson’s,” 2014). It is a disease of the older generation, around about one percent of people over the age of 60 years old have Parkinson’s disease (Hauser, 2014). As one ages the likelihood of a person developing goes up. About four percent of people over the age of 80 years old develop Parkinson’s disease. The percentage of people who have Parkinson’s that are younger than 40 years old, is less than 10 percent. It is more

Parkinson’s disease is caused by the destruction of dopamine-producing nerve cells in the midbrain (Substantia nigra). These nerve cells are used to coordinate smooth and regular body movement. In the absence of these cells, people often experience tremors (involuntary shaking or

Parkinson’s is the second most common neurological disease after Alzheimer’s. It is an incurable, chronic progressive disease. Parkinson’s disease is not life threatening, but, it does have a profound effect on the quality of life (Magennis & Corry 2013). Parkinson’s disease is caused by a loss of Dopamine that affects two main brain structures, the substantia nigra pars compacta and basal ganglia deep in the central hemisphere. Low levels of

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 affected by the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons which is responsible to produce dopamine. Dopaminergic neurons have their cell bodies in substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) in basal ganglia (O’Sullivan and Schmitz, 2007). Basal ganglia are a collection of interconnected gray matter nuclear masses deep within the brain”. These gray matter masses are caudate, putamen, globus pallidus, subthalamic nucleus and the substantia nigra. Basal ganglia receive its input through striatum (O’Sullivan and Schmitz, 2007).

Parkinson’s disease is a common form of Parkinsonism, affecting as many as one out of every hundred people aged 65 years and over. The disease prevalence increases with age, with

Dopamine is an important chemical messenger that is responsible for relaying nerve signals that initiate movement1. People with Parkinson’s disease lack dopamine-producing cells in the substantia nigra – a region of the brain, which serves as the nerve propagation station. Researchers suggest that these motor impairments are only visible when 80% of these neurons are lost3. Due to this excessive lack in dopamine, many of the bodies’ basic movements are impaired and cognitive processes gradually degrade as PD progresses3. Due to its chronic nature, the 1st symptoms are sometimes masked and only become apparent as the condition worsens; however, the 1st symptom is usually tremors. This can be so mild as a simple twitch in the hand or as severe as a sudden shaking at a random time3. It has also been observed that people with PD tend to have a parkinsonian gait, which is an inclination to lean forward while initiating movement, and they are also prone to stop moving at any moment1. Other common symptoms of PD include rigidity and bradykinesia. People with PD may also experience a slowdown in movement, which is correlated with the fact that their muscles are in a constant state of tension. This so called rigidity may be only impacting certain muscle groups but it is also responsible for a slowdown in

The cells are dopamine producing cells. The loss of dopamine inside the brain is what causes an individual to have this disease. Although much research has been done on this disease, it is still unclear even today as to why these dopamine producing cells disappear. Also, over many years of research, scientist and doctors have come to the conclusion that Parkinson’s disease is caused by a combination of genetics and one’s own environment. Because people are unique and individualist the symptoms and factors will play a different role in each person. Although many times, people are very similar in their environments as well as their genetics, one person may have Parkinson’s and another person may not have any symptoms or signs of Parkinson’s

It is caused by the loss of dopamine receptors in the midbrain. There have been some links to genetic mutation and toxic environments, but the evidence overall is inconclusive. Majority of people with Parkinson’s are males over the age of sixty, but there are also cases of juvenile Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease can cause widespread tremors, stiffness in the neck and limbs, trouble walking, and slowing of movement. There is no standard test to diagnose Parkinson’s, but physicians can run a series of tests based on the information the patient has given them. It can be treated through medication and surgery. Parkinson’s disease is not fatal, but patients will be on medication for the rest of their lives. There are currently no ways to prevent Parkinson’s disease. There are also no cures, but there is extensive research going into stem cells and fetal cell

In the United States there is an estimated 1 million people living with Parkinson’s disease, with the worldwide numbers reaching an estimated 10 million people (American Parkinson’s Disease Association, 2017). Parkinson’s disease, commonly referred to as Parkinson’s, is a neurodegenerative disorder that slowly and progressively deteriorates the central nervous system (Falvo, 2014). This progressive deterioration occurs mostly in the basal ganglia, a structure in the brain composed of grey matter that contributes to complex movement. As a result, the production of dopamine produced by the basal ganglia is reduced. The cause of Parkinson’s is unknown, but both genetic and environmental factors are considered to contribute to its onset. The extreme

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,