Essay on Parkinson's Disease

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.

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

PD is the second most common neurodegenerative disease featured pathologically by the progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. The typical symptoms of PD include slowness of movements (bradykinesia), muscle stiffness (rigidity), tremor, and balance disturbance. Etiopathologically, PD is considered to be caused by the significant loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta and the subsequent dopamine depletion at the striatum. To date, there are only symptomatic treatments available for PD, particularly in the early stages of the disease. No therapy has been found that can cure or halt the progression of the disease.

These deficits increase during the course of the disease and are due to loss of dopamine-secreting neurons in the motor circuits in the basal ganglia which are necessary for control and coordination of movements. The symptoms displayed because of this are: bradykinesia, resting tremor, rigidity of muscles and impaired posture (Millage, Vesey, Finkelstein, & Anheluk, 2017). Research indicates that exercise modalities can improve both motor and non-motor aspects of PD (Dashtipour et al., 2015).

Parkinson’s disease is a disorder that progresses over time. It affects your movement through your nervous system; the disorder causes stiffness, and slow movement in your body. Most noticeably started in little “tremors” in your hands it gradually increases over time. Early stages consists little expression in your face or no movement in your arms as you walk. Your speech may also slur, or slow down. Symptoms usually worsen over time.

Parkinson's Disease is a chronic and progressive neurodegenerative disorder that can affect body movements which can cause uncontrollable tremors of the hands, arms, legs, and face

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 is a progressive chronic incurable neurological disorder that affects 0.3% of the populations in the United States. The incidence of Parkinson’s disease increases with age and it is estimated to affect 5% of the population over the age of 85 (Nolden 2014). Historians have found evidence of the disease as far back as 5000 B.C. It was first described as “The shaking Palsy” by British Doctor James Parkinson. Because of his early work in identifying the symptoms, the disease came to bear his name. (Parkinsons foundation, n.d.) (Parkinsons foundation, n.d.)

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,

Question 1: A person with Parkinson’s disease (PD) demonstrates physical, cognitive and behavioural difficulties. These difficulties are based on the evidence of years of research about PD and the characteristics that are associated with this neurodegenerative disorder. Jankovic (2008) describes cardinal features of PD; tremor at rest, rigidity, bradykinesia, and postural instability which will be discussed in terms of their key aspects. Tremor tends to not interfere with daily activities as the tremor decreases with voluntary movement (Dauer, & Przedbors, 2003). Rest tremor disappear with action or during sleep, and usually involve the hands and may involve the lips, chin, jaw and legs; however, rarely involve the neck, head or voice (Jankovic,

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative debilitating movement disease which gets worse over time (Medscape, 2015). After much research and study no known cause has yet been determined and experts have hypothesized that it is a mix of inherited and environmental factors (Medscape, 2015). However, regardless of the unspecific cause, it is characterized by a significant loss in dopamine transportation to the basal ganglia which manifests itself in the three following physiologic signs: resting tremor, rigidity and bradykinesia (slow and reduced movement) (Mahan, Escott-Stump & Raymond, 2012). In North America PD is one of the most prevalent neurological disorders affecting relatively 1% of persons older than 65 years of age and within 5 years 66% of patients are disabled and by 10 years 80% are disabled (Mahan et al., 2012). PD increases in incidence with age, is not partial to socioeconomic status, is more common in whites than in Asian or Blacks and is predominately seen between the ages of 40 and 70 (Mahan et al., 2012).

In 1817, James Parkinson, a British physician, published his essay reporting this disease citing six cases of paralysis agitans. An Essay on the Shaking Palsy described the characteristic resting tremor, abnormal posture and gait, paralysis and diminished muscle strength, and the way that the disease progresses over so it was labeled Parkinson’s disease (PD) in his honor. Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative brain disorder that progresses slowly in most people. Most people's symptoms take years to develop, and they live for years with the disease. 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

Parkinson's is caused by the death of brain cells that produce dopamine, one of the chemicals that carry messages between neurons. Low dopamine impairs the basal ganglia, which are brain regions that control movement and coordination. The early signs of this disease is often trembling or shanking of a limb usually when the body is at rest, these first tremors usually begin on one side of the body typically a hand. These tremors can effect arms, legs, feet, and a patients face. Parkinson's disease belongs to a group of conditions called motor system disorders, which are the result of the loss of dopamine-producing brain cells. The four primary symptoms of Parkinson's are tremor, or trembling in hands, arms, legs, jaw, and face; rigidity, or

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,

The most common presenting symptoms for PD are tremors at rest of the upper extremities, bradykinesia, rigidity and postural instability.