The Effects Of Parkinson's Disease

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)

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological condition which can affect talking, writing, swallowing, walking and memory.

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.

What exactly is Parkinson’s? Known commonly as a movement disorder. It affects movement, muscle control, and balance. “It is the second most common progressive neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer’s disease, and the second most prevalent and disabling condition in the expanding elderly population” (Mikkelsen,Stinson, 2011, pg xix). For those that aren’t aware what neurodegenerative means it’s simply the loss of nerve cells. Nerve cells which are also known as neurons are located in the nervous system. Neurons are broken down into three different types. They are sensory (receptor), motor (effector), and interneurons (connector). Each one of these neurons plays a different role in the nervous system. The purpose of neurons is to receive incoming information and in return send signals to other neurons, muscles or glands. Neurons are made up of three parts. First the cell body which controls the neuron

Abnormal brain activity is caused when low levels of dopamine are decreased, which leads to symptoms of Parkinson's disease. The cause of Parkinson's disease is unknown, but symptoms of the disease are caused by low levels of a chemical in the brain called dopamine. All this information regarding Parkinson's disease is important because it gives us an understanding about what it is and who it normally involves. This disease affects the lives of many people, where it has an effect in their everyday activities. When trying to perform a certain task, their motor system interferes and creates an individual constraint which also plays a role with affecting both task and environmental abilities to perform certain activities that limits and restricts individuals motor movement. Haywood (2009) explains how every individual has their own constraints: individual, task, and environmental, but are limited when it comes to having a type of disorder. The main focus of this literature review is strictly focusing on Parkinsonian gait. Parkinsonian gait is the type of gait that is exhibited by patients who are suffering from Parkinson's disease. This disorder is caused by a lack of dopamine in the basal ganglia circuit leading to motor deficits, making gait one of the most affected motor

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 (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease. Two other names for PD are shaking palsy and Paralysis agitans. Parkinson’s disease is initiated when the cells in the brain that produce dopamine die over time. Dopamine is a brain chemical used by nerve cells that helps to control the body 's muscle movement. Without those brain cells and the dopamine they produce, it becomes increasingly more difficult for the cells that control movement to send messages to the muscles; affecting the body’s movement. As time goes on the damage worsens. There is not a known cause as to why these brain cells die, although there are a few theories ("MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia:

Another effect of Parkinson's disease is the trembling of their legs. People that have the disease can't walk good because their legs are constantly shaking. Their legs shake so uncontrollably that they have to use a wheelchair to get around everywhere they go and they can't move it by themselves because they aren't able to move their arms and legs without shaking uncontrollably. If someone with Parkinson's tries to walk they don't have any balance so they would just fall right over. We need your help to find a cure a help these innocent people out to have a normal life

Parkinson’s disease is a disease that affects the way a person moves. Movement for a parkinson’s sufferer can be slow and shaky. There are different types of parkinson’s, multiple system atrophy (MSA), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP),normal pressure hydrocephalus and tremors including essential tremors, dystonic tremors, indeterminate tremors and atypical tremors. These tremors are all part of this disease and affect all patients in different ways.

Symptom severity varies person-to-person and early signs sometimes go unnoticed. Usually the symptoms will begin unilaterally and eventually progress to both sides, with the original side remaining worse (Tagliati, 2007). People with PD also have a slumped posture with an abnormally slow gait with shuffling feet. They also may suffer from an issue called freezing. Freezing causes the person to be frozen in place involuntarily for a moment (National Parkinson’s Foundation). Because Parkinson’s causes bradykinesia, or slowing in motion, everyday task take more energy and time to complete. Tasks that seem simple to the healthy individual like getting out of bed is an accomplishment to those suffering with this disease.

Slow movements are also known as bradykinesia. Over a duration of being affected by Parkinson 's disease, the ability of movement reduces, and the movement becomes slow instead thereby rendering the simple tasks to be challenging and time-consuming. As

This disease affects the nerve cells in the basal ganglia and substantia nigra. Nerve cells in the substantia nigra produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter, and are responsible for relaying messages that control body movement. The dopamine-producing nerve cells of the substantia nigra begin to diminish. When eighty percent of dopamine is lost, symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, such as tremor and stiffness, begin to appear.

There are basic signs and symptoms, and they are as follows: tremor, shaking of the limb or hand, slowed movement, Parkinson’s disease may reduce the ability to move and slow down movement, rigid muscles, when the muscles becomes very stiff, impaired posture and balance, a person’s posture may become stooped or a person may have trouble balancing, loss of automatic movements, may have a decreased ability to perform unconscious movements, speech changes, speech may become monotone, and writing changes, writing may become smaller or it becomes hard to write. The decease rate of Parkinson’s disease varies in race. African-Americans had the highest crude death rate (66.4%), followed by whites (64.6%), Hispanics (55.4%), and Asians (50.8%). 69.9% of people with Pakinson’s developed dementia by the end of the six-year study. Since Parkinson’s disease deals with the trouble of moving, it affects the nervous system. 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.

Parkinson’s disease (PD), is a neurodegenerative disease of the brain affect nerve cells that associated with control normal movement and balance. The mechanism of PD start when loss of dopamine neurons that’s produced by nerve cells in substantia nigra . Dopamine is a neurotransmitter or chemical messenger that helps in transmission of signals between neurons in the brain . The etiology of PD is idiopathic, and it is supposed to be due to many risk factors such as, mutation in gene , age and exposure to some pesticides.

Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurological disorder that slowly erodes an individual's ability to care for themselves. Parkinson's does not have a standard set of symptoms and each person's experience with Parkinson's is unique. What is common is that the disease affects the body's ability to control muscle movements. This may result in tremors, muscle rigidity, difficulty walking, and an inability to perform any task requiring fine motor skills. There is no known cure for Parkinson's disease, and its progressive nature ensures that it is highly debilitating.