Parkinsons Disease1
Diseases are sometimes extremely devastating and cruel. Some diseases move very rapidly while others are slow and painful. Treatments are sometimes useful yet other times nothing can stop the silent beasts that lurk in the body. Parkinson's disease is a slow moving disease that slowly corrupts the brain. Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic motor disorder that causes tremors, rigidity, slowed body movements, unstable posture and abnormal gait. This happens when neurons, nerve cells, in a part or the brain called the substantial nigra gradually die. These cells normally produce dopamine, a chemical that helps relay messages between areas of the brain that control body movement. The death of the cells leads to abnormal low levels of dopamine, and causes difficulty in controlling muscle tension and muscle movement both at rest and during periods of activity.PD as of now affects about 500,000 Americans, with about 50,000 new cases diagnosed each year. It is generally a disease that affects people of late or middle age at about age 60 however about 5 percent of patients have early-onset PD and are younger than 40 years old when symptoms begin. PD is slightly more common in men then women.
The tremor may improve when the patient intentionally moves the limb or it may disappear entirely during sleep. When bradykinesia affects the facial muscles it may cause drooling, disrupts normal eye blinking interferes with facial expressions. So far scientists have not determined the reason why some people develop PD and others do not. PD usually begins as a slight tremor of a hand arm or leg. Bradykinesia of the other muscles may affect every day life. A well designed program of rest, exercise, and physiotherapy can also significantly ameliorate the symptoms of PD. There is no true cure for the disease but it can be slowed down and controlled. Additional evidence suggests that PD may be related to environmental toxins especially because some claim that they have found rates of PD that are higher in rural areas where farming is intense and residents drink well water. Pallidotomy is a procedure in which a small portion of the globus pallidus, a structure deep within the brain, is surgically destroyed resulting in improved motor functioning. Bibliography Encarta 99. Doctors and scientists are continuing to try and find a cure. The most common conventional treatment for PD is the use of drugs such as l-dopa medications, selegiline (deprenyl and eldepryl) which blocks the breakdown of dopamine in the brain, and anticholinergenic drugs which reduce the amount of acetylcholine produced in the brain which corrects the imbalance between dopamine and acetylcholine. Antioxidants slow down the progression of existing PD. The ability to wash or dress him or her self, to use eating utensils becomes very difficult. In the hand the tremor is often described as "pill-rolling" when it affects the thumb and index finger.
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