Parkinson's Disease Essay

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.

New and evolving diagnostic tests are always exciting. Especially if these tests could possibly lead us to a cure for those diseases that currently have only treatment, but no cures. Parkinson 's is a progressively degenerative disease, which affects millions of people every year. Patients suffering from Parkinson 's incur high costs from drug therapy, fall-related injuries, and hospitalizations. By diagnosing this disease earlier, treatment can be started earlier and hopefully the symptoms can be delayed and less severe for a longer period of time giving the patient a better quality of life. However, with any new test we must use statistical measures to determine if these tests are truly making a difference.

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.

4). There is no scientific test to diagnose Parkinson’s. This disease can be observed through three signs, a resting tremor, rigidity, and bradykinesia. Rigidity in the muscles can affect the mobility of a patient. These signs can develop at different times and in different types of severity making it more difficult to diagnose. “No specific test exists to diagnose Parkinson’s disease” ( Mayo clinic staff, 2015, p. 7). Along with the three signs the doctor can also use a patient's medical history, and a neurological physical exam. A Neurologist is the doctor who will diagnose this disease. Parkinson’s disease most often develops in adults around the age of 60. The procedure for diagnosis is the same for all ages and genders. There are quite a few treatments and medications available for

This paper is limited to Parkinson’s Disease. Parkinson’s Disease was thoroughly researched and will be described in depth including: physiology, etiology, signs and symptoms, diagnostic testing, therapeutic measures, and short vs. long term effects.

Parkinson’s disease produces both motor symptoms and nonmotor symptoms. There are four cardinal motor symptoms of Parkinson’s: tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia (slow movements), and postural instability. Tremor is the most obvious symptom of Parkinson’s, as well as the most common. The tremor is uncontrollable and is most noticeable when the limb is at rest; when the limb is in use, the tremor disappears. Often times, the tremor only affects the hand or foot on one side of the body, but it can eventually become bilateral. Rigidity is characterized as stiffness and resistance to movement in the limbs. The arms, legs, face, and back are areas commonly affected. Early on, rigidity can cause joint pain, often in the shoulder. Bradykinesia is one of the most common symptoms of Parkinson’s. It is described as slowness and difficulty in initiating and making movements, especially repetitive movements and fine motor skills, such as writing. Bradykinesia greatly affects the ability of the Parkinson’s sufferer to perform common activities of daily life, like getting dressed. According to Nolden (2015), postural instability is the imbalance and loss of righting reflexes. This is usually a symptom that shows up in the late stages of Parkinson’s. Postural instability is linked with high rates of hip fractures in people with Parkinson’s disease, due to increased falls. Aside from the four cardinal motor symptoms, there are secondary motor symptoms that go

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a nervous system disorder that affects nearly five million people world wide. Most of the effects of PD are movement based. It is more prevalent in men and the chance of developing the disease increases with age. Fifteen percent of those with Parkinson’s have been identified as having a family history of the disease. Those who are 80 or older may be one-thousand times more likely to develop PD than those under 40 (Jankovic & Tolosa, 2015). The symptoms of PD were first described in 1817 by James Parkinson. Over time, Parkinson was able to observe the disease in six different patients, seeing the similarities in their symptoms. As sciences have advanced at a rapid rate, the understanding of PD has

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,

Parkinson’s Disease-like pathologies are found in different organisms. However, the pathology do not necessarily result in Parkinson’s-like symptoms. In horses, dysfunction of the pituitary pars intermedia due to the loss of dopaminergic neurons within the hypothalamus is a characteristic of Cushing’s disease (Spelta, 2015). Currently, it is hypothesized that with age, oxidation within the hypothalamus causes the loss of dopaminergic neurons. In equine Cushing’s disease, proopiomelanocortin peptides (POMC), such as acetylcholine (ACTH), α-melanocyte-stimulation hormone (α-MSH), and ß-endorphin, are mass-produced due to the lack of dopamine inhibiting melanotrope cells of the pars intermedia within the pituitary gland (Toribio, 2012). With

About one million Americans and four million people worldwide suffer from Parkinson’s disease. The number of individual’s with Parkinson’s increases by at least sixty thousand per year in America. Although the Parkinson’s disease has been around for thousand of years, it was not officially recognized until 1817 by a Dr. James Parkinson. Dr. James Parkinson clearly stated in his paper An Essay on the Shaking Palsy symptoms of Parkinson’s that are still recognized today as markers for the disease. Even though he wrote that paper in 1817, it was not until 1861 that the medical community began to collectively look into this debilitating disease.

Parkinson’s disease is difficult to diagnose and many have been misdiagnosed as well. A neurologist who specializes in movement disorders would be the most adept person in making a correct diagnosis through many evaluation techniques. Some techniques to diagnose Parkinson’s include physical examinations, verbal surveys indicating any new medications or environmental exposures and various mental tests. (Clark, 2007)

Introduced by James Parkinson in his 1817 monograph “Essay on the Shaking Palsy,” Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common age-related neuro-degenerative disease identified after Alzheimer 's disease. It is a progressive disorder in result of affected nerve cells in the brain. The disease progresses gradually taking several years moving from prodromal period into motor period, and the motor period may take up to twenty years. Symptoms of PD are mostly associated with degenerated body movements, and the treatment typically include self-care, meditation, and surgery. Unfortunately, there is currently no cure for PD, and the prognosis of the disease is unclear.

There is not a specific test to diagnose Parkinson’s disease. The patient’s neurologist can diagnose Parkinson’s disease based on the medical history, reviewing signs and symptoms, and neurological and physical examination. The purpose of any additional testing is to exclude other diseases that imitate Parkinson’s disease, such as stroke or hydrocephalus (a buildup of cerebrospinal

There is no definitive test that can diagnose Parkinson’s disease (PD). Diagnoses by physicians are usually made by looking at a patient’s medical history, observing for particular signs, and performing a comprehensive neurological exam. It can be difficult, however, as the principal symptoms of PD can be similar to those caused by certain medications or other degenerative brain

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,