Michael J. Fox: 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

Cancer and Parkinson’s disease are similar in many ways. The symptoms of the patients can be quite indistinguishable. Both damage the body’s cells. Also, symptoms worsen as time passes. Parkinson’s and Cancer both cause damage to the brain. The video titled, “Parkinson’s disease- a journey through a brain” informs viewers of the nasty symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. “The disease damages the brain, creating tremors in some people, muscle stiffness, an inability to move, memory damage, anxiety and depression” (AP). Cancer and Parkinson’s can give off unbearable physical pains. Christopher Hitchens describes his personal experience with Cancer in the “Topic of Cancer”. “I have more than once in my time woken

Dan Crenshaw had been the worship pastor at the church for as long as anyone could remember. Is was odd to Dan that lately everyone was always asking if he was ok. Of course he felt fine, just getting a little older. He was faithful to get his annual physical and always passed with flying colors. He was sure that the finger trembling he’d noticed when waving was nothing; come to think of it, he’d been having a little difficulty typing too. He’d had trouble sleeping for a while, but that was probably normal for his age. He made a note to check with his Dr. next physical, certain that it was nothing but getting older. In February 2013, after a routine physical, Mr. Crenshaw was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. At a mild to moderate stage, treatment will focus on patient safety, and mobility as well as education ( (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2016).

Fox Show (2013-14); a comedy in which he played a news anchor with Parkinson's disease” (“Michael J. Fox”). Fox faced adversity and he did not let it take him down. He also started The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Disease (MJFF). The motto of the foundation is, “[t]he Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF) and furthering the vital goal of ending PD and finding a cure” (Shenkman). Fox worked with Hamalid Ali and brought awareness of Parkinson's to the U.S. and Canadian Governments.

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 Lucky Man is an autobiography written by Michael J. Fox, a famous actor, about his experience with being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease as well as what he learned from the event. To convey his struggle and newfound understanding, Michael used memories placed out of order to show different aspects of his personality as well as the outcomes of problems he faced. Additionally, he uses humor to allow the reader to feel connected and have a better understanding of his disease. The use of memories and comedy creates a relatable reading experience which allows the reader to sympathize with the author and raises awareness for Parkinson’s disease.

Parkinson disease (PD) is one of the most common neurologic disorders. and it affects approximately 1% of individuals older than 60 years old. Parkinson’s disease is a condition that progresses slowly by treatment. In addition, loss of pigmented dopaminergic neurons of the substantianigra pars compacta and the presence of Lewy bodies and Lewyneurites are the two major neuropathologic findings in Parkinson disease (Hauser, 2016).

Parkinson's disease affects the way you move. It happens when there is a problem with certain nerve cells in the brain. Normally, these nerve cells make an important chemical called dopamine. Dopamine sends signals to the part of your brain that controls movement. Some conspiracy theories makes us happy by creating a picture where hitler was finally reduced to a trembling, almost rigid person with the mood swings of a woman at her worst PMS, shambling through a burnt, destroyed, and pillaged Nazi regime because he was inflicted by parkinson's disease in the final days of his life. Although it is rumored that hitler really had this disease. It was highly unlikely that he died from it due to the fact that parkinson's disease does not kill by

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

James Parkinson first discovered Parkinson's Disease in 1817. Parkinson's Disease is a common neurologic disorder for the elderly. It is a disorder of the brain characterized by shaking and difficulty with walking, movement, and coordination. This disease is associated with damage to a part of the brain that controls muscle movement. Parkinson's Disease is a chronic illness that is still being extensively studied.

Parkinson disease (PD), also referred to as Parkinson’s disease and paralysis agitans, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that is the third most common neurologic disorder of older adults. It is a debilitating disease affecting motor ability and is characterized by four cardinal symptoms: tremor rigidity, bradykinesia or kinesis (slow movement/no movement), and postural instability. Most people have primary, or idiopathic, disease. A few patients have secondary parkinsonian symptoms from conditions such as brain tumors and certain anti-psychotic drugs.

Fox foundation on March 5, 2010, and became an advocate for research in stem cell research for the disease. The foundation has supported all studies covering gene therapy, developing stem cell from embryonic or fetal tissue. The foundation research has given out 17 million to help finance 57 studies. His foundation has raised over 700 million to speed the cure for Parkinson’s. Michael has published four books, each book is donated to the Michael J. Fox foundation, dedicated to the fast-forwarding cure for Parkinson’s. The Michael J. Fox Foundation has an active website for donation and any information for anyone experiencing Parkinson’s.

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 is known as one of the most common progressive and chronic neurodegenerative disorders. It belongs to a group of conditions known as movement disorders. Parkinson disease is a component of hypokinetic disorder because it causes a decreased in bodily movement. It affects people who are usually over the age of 50. It can impair an individual motor as well as non-motor function. Some of the primary symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are characterized by tremors or trembling in hands, legs and arms. In early symptoms the tremor can be unilateral, appearing in one side of body but progression in the disease can cause it to spread to both sides; rigidity or a resistant to movement affects most people with Parkinson’s disease,

Charcot examined a large group of patients within Salpetriere Hospital in Paris, he had developed a way to observe tremors in action and at rest. “He noted that the patients with action tremor had accompanying features of weakness, spasticity, and visual disturbance. In contrast, those with rest tremor differed in having rigidity, slowed movements, a typical hunched posture, and very soft spoken.” (Goetz 2011) Charcot early tremor studies helped to establish Parkinson’s Disease through his very high publicized findings that neurological entity could be confidently be diagnosed. In 1957 a Swedish scientist Arvid Carlsson found out that dopamine in the brain region that is important for movement control. He showed that the levels of dopamine can be reduced in animals to cause symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease and also by giving the animals levodopa (L-dopa) to reverse the symptoms of PD. PD is second most common neurodegenerative after Alzheimer’s Disease and the most common movement disorder. Over 60,000 people here in the United States are diagnosed every year but they say the numbers can be much higher with undiagnosed people out there but over one million people live with Parkinson daily.10 million people worldwide live with Parkinson’s Disease and April 11th is World Parkinson’s Day. On April 11th, 2017 marked 200 years since James Parkinson publicized his essay.