Causes Of Parkinson's Disease

Superior Essays
Parkinson’s disease is characterized by a progressive loss of control over skeletal muscle movements. This is caused by the degeneration of neurons deep in the brain that play a major role in initiating skeletal muscle movement (Human Biology p 135). There are many people that are affected by these diseases. Numerous tests have been done to improve this painful irritating disease, which worsen as the condition progresses over time. Parkinson’s affects different voluntary movement that people use every day. In my research, I will discuss the symptoms, the causes of the ailment, the diagnosis as well as the possible treatments and future preventions that have been developed. …show more content…
This is the result of involuntary muscle contraction interfering with voluntary movements (Human Biology). Parkinson’s disease signs vary from person to person. Early symptoms may be insignificant and go unnoticed. Symptoms often begin on one side of your body and usually remain worse on that side, even after symptoms begin to affect both sides (Mayo Clinic). Rigidity or a resistance to movement affect most people with Parkinson’s disease, causes muscles to be tensed and contracted so that more individual feels stiff. The disease is also characterized by bradykinesia, which is the extreme slowness in movement. Simple tasks such as opening a door or reaching for a glass of milk can take several minutes. A person has difficulty performing routine work such as dressing, eating and walking. Another symptom of Parkinson’s disease is hypokinesia, a condition in which the range of motion is reduced (Human Biology). According to the laboratory manual, one of the diagnostic tools used to identify Parkinson’s is to study a patient’s handwriting to see whether the letters and words have progressively gotten smaller or even impossible to read. Some of the non-motor symptom include disturbances in cognition and sleeping habit, emotions such as mood, sensation and perception, olfactory system, autonomic function decrease and constant …show more content…
Parkinson 's Disease is caused by the death of dopamine-generating cells in a region in the midbrain called the substantia nigra. When dopamine levels decrease, it causes abnormal brain activity, leading to signs of Parkinson 's disease. The dopamine released by nerve cells of the substantia nigra stimulates another brain region, the corpus striatum. Without enough dopamine, the corpus striatum cannot control its targets, and so on down the line. Ultimately, the movement patterns of walking, writing, reaching for objects, and other basic actions cannot function properly, resulting in the symptoms of parkinsonism (Gulli, Laith

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Nt1310 Final Exam

    • 205 Words
    • 1 Pages

    1. A provider is assessing a 35-year-old patient woman who complains of having tremors in bilateral hands and has been having difficulty writing. She states, “it is like I can’t get my hands to do what I want”. She states her mother had Parkinson disease and is worried she may have as well.…

    • 205 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Muhammad Ali had the biggest influence on United States since the 1900’s. Muhammad Ali did a lot of things during his life, some good and some bad. He became one of the best known boxers around the world, he converted to Islam, and he battled Parkinson's disease. Muhammad Ali wasn’t always his name. His birth name was Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.…

    • 969 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Parkinson Late Adulthood

    • 473 Words
    • 2 Pages

    One of the most common growing disease in late adulthood is Parkinson which is a progressive disease of the nervous system with symptoms including tremor of the hands, arms, legs, jaw and face which is caused by failure of the normal cellular compensatory mechanisms in vulnerable brain regions, bradykinesia or slowness of movement, rigidity or stiffness of the limbs and trunk, postural instability or impaired balance and coordination. One of the main reason for these symptoms is the loss of dopamine which helped the Thalamus to regulate the movement by reporting the sensory information about the movement of the body to the brain. According to McNamara (2017), the loss of dopamine in the brain circuit which disrupts the performance of thalamus.…

    • 473 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Introduction Imagine having a twitch that just keeps going. Imagine that twitch and multiply it by ten. Imagine that twitch in every single muscle; not being able to hold anything still, not being able to eat because the shaking knocks everything off the spoon. That is a reality for Parkinson’s Disease patients.…

    • 844 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Most people don’t think much about the process of walking, because it’s a natural motion. The ability to walk individually is a fundamental element of daily living activities. The way a person walks, or style of walking is referred to as gait (1). The human gait is an attractive “trademark” for recognizing people at a distance (1). Everyone has a distinctive gait signature, whether it’s the way you swing your arms when you walk or if you have a bounce when you walk, due to walking on the balls of your foot.…

    • 272 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The major symptoms of PD include slowed movement, muscle stiffness, and tremors. “On average, about 1 to 2 out of 1,000 people have Parkinson’s” (4). The Center of Disease Control rated Parkinson ’s 14th for the top complications that result in death (3). Parkinson’s is known for damaging the nerve cells in the brain that would normally produce the chemical messenger dopamine.…

    • 1456 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Some of the interesting topics surrounding Parkinson’s are signs-symptoms, pathology and etiology. Some of the earlier signs one may notice in a Parkinson’s patient are achy muscles, fatigue, muscle weakness and less impulsive…

    • 990 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Compare and Contrast Parkinson and Alzeihmer disease Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease are both degenerative brain diseases. However they differ in their symptoms, biological. Similiarities Parkinson and and alzeihmer usually occur after 50 years of age and both are neuro degenerative disease they destroy neural system thus cause in loss of memory and other neural functions. Another thing that is common between them is that they are progressive disease they get worse over time.…

    • 257 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder. People with Parkinson’s have a deficiency in dopamine which results in tremors, rigidity, bradykinesia and autonomic dysfunction. According to the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) (2010), out of every 100,000 people, between 120 and 230 people are living with Parkinson’s in Scotland. Furthermore Parkinson’s disease can affect people from all age groups and ethnic backgrounds. However the majority of people diagnosed with Parkinson’s are over the age of 60 (Better health better care Parkinson’s disease Society, 2007)…

    • 1791 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Parkinson's Disease

    • 654 Words
    • 3 Pages

    One will typically see some stiffness and more tremors, trembling may become more noticeable, and changes in facial expression can occur. In this stage, balance is not impaired. Patients feel symptoms on both sides of the body and can experience some speech difficulties. The progression from Stage 1 to Stage 2 can take months or even years. There is no way to predict individual progression.…

    • 654 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It causes difficulty with repetitive movements such as finger tapping. Limitations of movement cause difficulty in performing everyday functions such as brush teeth, getting dressed and eating. Rigidity causes stiffness in the limbs, neck, and trunk of the body. It can be painful due to a stiffness and inability for limbs to relax. One of the most important symptoms of Parkinson’s is postural instability, which is the loss of reflexes needed for maintaining upright posture.…

    • 1454 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    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.…

    • 1245 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    To begin with, PD has no possible cure, the treatment offered to the patients is purely temporary, to control the side-effects. Also, there is no exact cause for this disease, it could very well be genetic, or derived. For the most part, however, scientist believe that a lack of dopamine in the substantia nigra area of the brain may be the primary cause of PD. Genetics and age are also two other factors to be considered. Age cannot be used as the only factor since “about 10 percent of the nearly 1 million people living with the disease in the United States are under the age of 40”…

    • 303 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    So, some of the common symptoms such as a tremor, relate to the diagnosis of Parkinson’s. According to the Mayo Clinic Staff (2017), “Your doctor trained in nervous system conditions (neurologist) will diagnose Parkinson's disease based on your medical history, a review of your signs and symptoms, and a neurological and physical examination” (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2017). For the most part, Parkinson’s cannot be determined by one specific test, but can be narrowed down through neurological testing and looking at common…

    • 1141 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Alexis Arciga Biol 125 M‐TH 9:30‐12:50 Parkinson’s Disease Parkinson’s disease is an illness that if diagnose can be persistent for the rest of your life. As the disorder progresses the symptoms become more severe. Trembling of the hands and feet occur, stiffness in the body and involuntary shaking occurs. This is due to the deterioration of the nervous system caused by lack of dopamine in the human brain.…

    • 1174 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays

Related Topics