Parkinson’s disease (PD), one of the most common neurological conditions, afflicts around 1.5 million people in the United States alone. More globally, it is estimated that that number grows to around 5 million people. Parkinson’s disease is a slowly progressing neurodegenerative disorder. It impacts the nervous system and can seriously influence one’s ability to walk and talk. Additionally, those with PD often exhibit behavioral and mental changes, sleeping problems, memory difficulties, and fatigue. The disease is usually seen in those aged 60 and older, and cases of PD are more commonly observed in men than women. The symptoms of PD often gradually show up in an individual, and they worsen or progress over time.
Most symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are divided into motor and non-motor categories. Motor symptoms are considered the most obvious clinically, since they primarily affect the movements of the body such as walking. Some examples of these motor symptoms include slowness of movement, tremors, muscle stiffness. In later stages of the disease, poor balance is also noted as a motor symptom. Non-motor symptoms are usually experienced by PD patients before motor symptoms develop. Some examples of non-motor symptoms include depression, fatigue, loss of smell, constipation, vivid dreaming (also known as REM-behavior disorder). However, these symptoms are often experienced by the general population, which makes it hard to identify as symptoms of PD.
The causes of Parkinson’s disease are currently unknown. However, research has proven that PD symptoms often occur when nerve cells in the basal ganglia die or become impaired. The Basal ganglia is an area of the brain that control movement, and the nerve cells in this area typically produce the brain chemical called dopamine. The impairment or death of these nerve cells results in the motor symptoms observed with PD, and scientists are still attempting to discover what exactly causes the neurons to die. Current research has also discovered that people with PD also lose the nerve endings that produce norepinephrine, which are the main chemical messenger of the sympathetic nervous system. The loss of norepinephrine is thought to be linked to the non-motor symptoms of PD, such as fatigue. Some cases of PD appear to be hereditary, and research has also traced PD to specific genetic mutations. However, despite this link to genetics, the disease does not appear to run in families.
Blood tests and imaging exams are relatively unhelpful in diagnosis PD, but they can help rule out any other possible causes for the symptoms that a patient is experiencing. However, a full PD diagnosis is clinical and reliant of an individual’s medical history, as well as general physical and neurologic examinations. It is also standardized that two of the three primary motor symptoms must be present for the diagnosis of PD, and extreme slowness of movement must be one of the two.
There is currently no cure for Parkinson’s disease, but there are many medical and surgical treatments available for PD that can help effectively manage Parkinson’s disease for a significant period. The type of treatment differs depending on the individual and their symptoms, age, stage of disease, degree of functional disability, level of physical activity, and productivity. Based on these factors, doctors can recommend an effective treatment to manage their symptoms.
Sources:
- https://health.ucsd.edu/specialties/neuro/specialty-programs/movement-disorders/pages/parkinsons.aspx
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/parkinsons-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20376055
- https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/parkinsons-disease
- https://medlineplus.gov/parkinsonsdisease.html
- https://www.parkinson.org/blog/awareness/10-facts
- https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/the-facts-about-parkinsons-disease