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Parkinson's Disease Research Paper

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There have been times during my life when my motivation has blossomed from different emotions. The day after Mother’s 65th birthday, love and fear intertwined into a knot inseparably made from a single thread. For on that day, Mother received the diagnosis of having Parkinson’s disease, at the time I did not comprehend the gravity of what that diagnosis actually meant. My desire to learn more about Parkinson’s disease initially stemmed from fear of what my mother would endure as the disease progressed, and love, motivated my desire to improve the quality of her life by any measure possible. Fortunately, the knowledge I gained aided my family in understanding and caring for Mother with great compassion. Sadly, over the following years, this …show more content…

(Parkinson's Disease Information). Specifically of interest in 1817, Dr. James Parkinson diligently identifies the symptoms of the disease and names the disease “the shaking palsy.” In addition, Dr. Parkinson publishes his findings in An Essay on the Shaking Palsy, which records the accounts of the six cases he observed in an attempt to encourage others to study the disease. (Parkinson's Disease Information). However, it is not until the year 1877 that French Neurologist, Jean Martin Charcot, recognizes the importance of Dr. Parkinson’s work inspiring him to change the name of the disease to Parkinson’s disease. (Parkinson's Disease Information). Unfortunately, at this point in history, due to a lack of medical advances, the cause of the illness remains a …show more content…

(Hoehn). Interestingly, when the symptoms first appear there has already been of loss of 60% to 80% of the neurotransmitter dopamine. (Heyn). Further, Parkinson’s disease presents uniquely in each patient in the severity and frequency of symptoms, the rate of progression, and the stages experienced. (WEBMD). In the first stage of the disease, the symptoms although mild still inconvenience the patient during routine daily activities. At this stage, most symptoms are unilateral and include tremor, pill rolling (when the thumb and index finger are bought together there is an uncontrolled circular movement), ataxia (condition of being without coordination), hypomimia (condition of deficient facial expression), dyskinesia (condition of difficulty in performing voluntary movements), and stooped posture. (WEBMD). Next, the disease progresses to Stage 2 the symptoms become bilateral while the initial symptoms increase in severity and include bradyarthria (condition of slowed speech), hypophonia (condition of deficient sound), monotone voice, dysphagia, diaphoresis, dermatitis, and polyuria. (WEBMD). During Stage 3 of the disease the list of symptoms continues to grow and the existing symptoms continue to worsen, the new symptoms include atasia

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