Anatomy Parkinson\'s Disease Parkinson\'s Disease

Anatomy

Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a condition that is a disorder of the motor system . It results in a loss of dopamine-producing brain cells. The four main indicator of PD are tremor, or trembling in hands, arms, legs, jaw, and face; stiffness, or inflexibility of the limbs and trunk; or sluggishness of progression; and postural shakiness, or impaired balance and coordination. As these symptoms become more prominent, patients may have trouble walking, talking, or completing other simple tasks. PD typically affects people who are over the age of 50. Premature symptoms of PD are understated and occur gradually. In some people the disease progresses more quickly than in others (NINDS Parkinson's Disease Information Page, 2010).

As the disease advances, the shaking, or tremor, which affects the preponderance of PD patients may begin to interfere with daily activities. Other symptoms may consist of depression and other emotional changes that include difficulty in swallowing, chewing, and speaking; urinary troubles or constipation; skin problems; and trouble sleeping. There are presently no blood or laboratory tests that have been established to help in diagnosing sporadic PD. Therefore the diagnosis is founded on medical history and a neurological examination. The disease can be difficult to diagnose precisely. Doctors may sometimes want to do brain scans or laboratory tests in order to rule out other diseases (NINDS Parkinson's Disease Information Page, 2010).

There are many risk factors for Parkinson's disease. These include: age -young adults rarely experience Parkinson's disease. It normally begins in middle or late life, and the risk continues to increase with age, heredity - having a close relative with Parkinson's amplifies the chances that a person will also develop the disease, although their risk is still no higher than about four to six percent, sex -men are more likely to develop Parkinson's disease than women are and exposure to toxins - continuing exposure to herbicides and pesticides puts a person at slightly increased risk of Parkinson's (Parkinson's Disease, 2010).

It is believed that there are as many as one million Americans who live with Parkinson's disease, which is more than the number of people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy and Lou Gehrig's disease all combined. There are around 60,000 Americans who are diagnosed with Parkinson's disease ever year, and this number does not take into account the thousands of cases that go unnoticed. Occurrence of Parkinson's goes up with a person's age, but it is estimated that about four percent of people are diagnosed before the age of 50. There are an estimated seven to 10 million people worldwide are living with Parkinson's disease (Statistics on Parkinson's, 2010).

Parkinson's disease is often accompanied by additional troubles:

People with Parkinson's disease of suffer from depression. Receiving treatment for depression can make it easier to deal with the other challenges of Parkinson's disease.

People who have Parkinson's disease frequently have trouble falling asleep and may wake up often throughout the night. They may also experience unexpected sleep onset, called sleep attacks, during the day.