In 1817 James Parkinson introduced Parkinson’s disease after having six patients experiencing involuntary unsteady motions that didn’t related to other disease out at the time. (Lees et al 2009). Parkinson’s disease affects the central nervous system and it leads to severe troubles with body motions. Symptoms include shaking, stiffness, slowed body movements, unstable posture and trouble walking (Singh and Pillay 2007). Now 200 years later this disease is the most common movement disorder in the world affecting the older population usually those around the age of 60. In the entire world Parkinson’s disease is seen in 1% of the world’s population, which out of about 7 billion people in the world about 70 million have Parkinson’s and in the United
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Rest tremor is usually seen in the hand and is less common in the foot as a presenting sign. This is usually the first sign of the disease in about 70% of patients. A tremor is an involuntary shaking movement that can worsen with anxiety and during walking. A common tremor is a “pill-rolling” tremor that spreads from one hand to another (Jankovic 2007). There is also some internal shaking that some patients experience. Rigidity is increased resistance associated mainly with an underlying tremor, it can occur in any body part and can be painful. Rigidity can result to scoliosis or anterocollis because it deforms the persons posture (Jankovic 2007). Bradykinesia is a characteristic of all Parkinson’s patients and it’s the slowness of movements. It causes problems with planning, beginning and implementing movements, and preforming chronological and simultaneous tasks. Patients have difficulty with buttoning up their shirts, writing and any other fine motor skill (Jankovic 2007). Freezing which is motor blocks is the loss of movement, is also associated with Parkinson’s. These categories help identify the disease but a definite diagnosis needs an autopsy (Jankovic 2007).
Nonmotor features can be separated in five different categories. The craniofacial features include reduced facial expression, drooling, loss of sense of smell, soft speech, difficulty pronouncing words and trouble …show more content…
The therapies can only improve the functional capacity of a patient they can’t stop the loss of structure or function of neurons in the body. Education, exercise, nutrition, and support services are examples of nonpharmacologic therapies. Exercising vigorously for 30 minutes at least three times a week makes is less likely to develop Parkinson or it’ll slow progression of Parkinson (Fernandez 2012). Pharmacologic therapy is used whenever the patient is functionally impaired. The drugs used will either boost levels of dopamine in the brain or they will mimic the effect of dopamine in the brain. The two drugs that are used in Parkinson are Carbidopa (a dopamine agonist) and Levodopa; they are the cheapest and most effective therapy. What levodopa does is it converts to dopamine after it crosses the blood-brain barrier (Fernandez 2012). All drugs that are used to treat Parkinson do the same thing, which is that they activate dopamine neurotransmission in the brain. Levodopa is sometimes combined with Carbidopa because carbidopa will reduce the peripheral effects that levodopa causes such as nausea and
Rest tremor is usually seen in the hand and is less common in the foot as a presenting sign. This is usually the first sign of the disease in about 70% of patients. A tremor is an involuntary shaking movement that can worsen with anxiety and during walking. A common tremor is a “pill-rolling” tremor that spreads from one hand to another (Jankovic 2007). There is also some internal shaking that some patients experience. Rigidity is increased resistance associated mainly with an underlying tremor, it can occur in any body part and can be painful. Rigidity can result to scoliosis or anterocollis because it deforms the persons posture (Jankovic 2007). Bradykinesia is a characteristic of all Parkinson’s patients and it’s the slowness of movements. It causes problems with planning, beginning and implementing movements, and preforming chronological and simultaneous tasks. Patients have difficulty with buttoning up their shirts, writing and any other fine motor skill (Jankovic 2007). Freezing which is motor blocks is the loss of movement, is also associated with Parkinson’s. These categories help identify the disease but a definite diagnosis needs an autopsy (Jankovic 2007).
Nonmotor features can be separated in five different categories. The craniofacial features include reduced facial expression, drooling, loss of sense of smell, soft speech, difficulty pronouncing words and trouble …show more content…
The therapies can only improve the functional capacity of a patient they can’t stop the loss of structure or function of neurons in the body. Education, exercise, nutrition, and support services are examples of nonpharmacologic therapies. Exercising vigorously for 30 minutes at least three times a week makes is less likely to develop Parkinson or it’ll slow progression of Parkinson (Fernandez 2012). Pharmacologic therapy is used whenever the patient is functionally impaired. The drugs used will either boost levels of dopamine in the brain or they will mimic the effect of dopamine in the brain. The two drugs that are used in Parkinson are Carbidopa (a dopamine agonist) and Levodopa; they are the cheapest and most effective therapy. What levodopa does is it converts to dopamine after it crosses the blood-brain barrier (Fernandez 2012). All drugs that are used to treat Parkinson do the same thing, which is that they activate dopamine neurotransmission in the brain. Levodopa is sometimes combined with Carbidopa because carbidopa will reduce the peripheral effects that levodopa causes such as nausea and