Parkinson 's Disease Is A Chronic Neurodegenerative Disorder

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 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.

Parkinson’s disease is a “neurodegenerative disorder of the basal nuclei due to insufficient secretion of the neurotransmitter dopamine” (Marieb & Hoehn, 2013, p. G-17). The cause of Parkinson’s disease is unknown, but many factors play a role in the development of Parkinson’s disease. One factor that has been found in an individual who has Parkinson’s disease causes over activity of targeted dopamine-deprived basal nuclei. This over activity is caused by the breakdown of neurons that release dopamine in the substantia nigra (Marieb & Hoehn, 2013). Another factor that is present in a person who has Parkinson’s disease, is the presence of lewy bodies in the brain stem ("What is lbd?," 2014). Lewy bodies are unusual

Many may not know Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder in the world. This disease is most seen in the elderly starting at 62 years of age although, younger individuals can still have the disease it isn’t common. Parkinson’s make it difficult for its victims to carry out everyday activities that might have once been easy for them. As the disease progresses it makes it hard for the patient to do things like walk, stand, swallow and speak. A great deal of people don’t realize how helpful therapy can be when dealing with such 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.

The National Parkinson Foundation located on the website www.parkinson.org, was designed to help people who are affected by parkinson’s disease and to be more aware of the disease through education, treatment options and expert care research. The mission of the non-profit organization states “We make life better for people with Parkinson 's through expert care and research. Everything we do helps people actively enjoy life with their friends, families, children and grandchildren until there is a tomorrow without Parkinson 's” (National Parkinson Foundation). The National Parkinson Foundation targeted audiences includes people who suffer from

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.

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.

Affecting an estimated 4 million people worldwide (NIH), Parkinson’s is one of the less common nervous system disorders. Despite its rarity, Parkinson’s is largely researched because there is no cure and few effective treatments. It also has a big impact on quality of life for those afflicted. This disease usually shows up after age 40 and occurs when the brain cells that are responsible for motor skills die. Symptoms include tremors, inability to move, and impaired cognitive function, all of which worsen over time. Because this is a condition that affects the brain, if an effective treatment can be established, treatments for other more common conditions such as Alzheimer’s may soon follow. This makes it a critical topic for today’s doctors and scientists.

As a neurodegenerative brain disorder, Parkinson’s disease affects the neurons in the human brain. This disease affects everyone differently. However, there are common symptoms that all patients with Parkinson’s experience. At this time, there is no cure for the disease, but there are several ways to improve the quality of life. Although research is never complete, there is a lot of information on Parkinson’s disease that individuals should know.

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 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

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,