Parkinson Disease Research Paper

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Parkinson disease is commonly described as a progressive, neurodegenerative disease. It was first described in detail by James Parkinson in 1817. In his writing, “The Essay on the Shaking Palsy” he discusses signs of the disease that are still categorically descriptive of it today. Though not the first observation of the shaking palsy, his essay brought a lot of insight to the medical and scientific communities about this terrible, debilitating and incurable disease. Parkinson disease has been observed for more than 200 years, and still there is no known absolute cause or cure. The signs and symptoms observed over 200 years ago remain the same observable signs in diagnosis of Parkinson disease to this day. Parkinsonism is a condition that …show more content…
Primary Parkinsonism is the description of the signs and symptoms whose underlying cause is Parkinson Disease, while secondary and tertiary Parkinsonism describe the signs and symptoms associated with Parkinson Disease, but that stem from a different, underlying cause. Parkinson disease comprises of physical and non-physical signs and symptoms that only continually progress over time and lead to a lack of quality of life. While this disease is referred to as idiopathic, or having no known cause, there have been genetic implications in about 15% of all cases discovered thus far. Research into the disease has greatly progressed with the improvement of technology and molecular techniques within the past two decades, yet there is still a huge gap in understanding the initiation of the disease, and as stated, still no known cure. In order to gain a good overall understanding of Parkinson disease, it is important to have a thorough perception of what Parkinson disease is, look thoroughly at the physical and non-physical signs and symptoms of the disease as well as how a patient is assessed for diagnosis, current treatments of the disease and new insights into the study of the disease from a …show more content…
It is most often the physical signs that are first noticed. Sadly, at the point that the physical signs become noticeable, the disease is fairly far progressed in terms of dopamine neuron degeneration. There are very characteristic physical signs that make-up the general definition of Parkinsonism. Again, Parkinsonism is not indicative of Parkinson disease, but it does share common signs and symptoms that can aid in leading to the diagnosis. There are five main physical traits that are often observed in Parkinson disease. All five can be observed, or just one or two. It is important to keep in mind that the signs and symptoms that occur in each patient with Parkinson disease are very unique to the individual. The five main physical signs associated with Parkinson disease are tremors, rigidity, cogwheel rigidity, bradykinesia and postural instability. Tremors characteristic of Parkinson disease are not sporadic tremors or tremors observed mid-action, such as a shaky hand when threading a needle or a muscle spasm during or immediately following a sprint, but are what is referred to as resting tremors. These tremors occur in the absence of action and typically begin asymmetrically, or only in one side of the body. Rigidity is described as very stiff muscles while cogwheel rigidity is seen as a series of very jerky movements, such as those of cogwheel in a clock, respectively. Bradykinesia

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