Next time you have an involuntary twitch in your pinky finger, think of that as just being the first warning of a disease that will change your life. Parkinson's disease is a neurological disorder that affects over a million Americans. This is a physically debilitating disease that has yet to be assigned to any particular cause or cure. Generally, it is the elderly population that is most affective, but there is a small portion of patients that have been diagnosed with something called Early Onset Parkinson's at young ages. There are many different factors to think about when choosing to treat the symptoms of Parkinson's, so it is important that patients be well informed, and because this is such a common disease, the public should also be aware of what it is.
             Parkinson's disease is a disorder involving the central nervous system and the levels of dopamine emitted from the brain. When a person has low levels of dopamine, triggers are set off to interfere with the messages sent from the brain that dictate how the body functions. The symptoms of Parkinson's Disease develop gradually. Characteristically, the first physical signs come out in gentle trembling or tremors in one hand. Symptoms progress over time to become more severe and noticeable to others; often these symptoms include difficulty maintaining balance, rigidity or stiffness of arms and legs, and slowness of movement. The course of this disease varies from patient to patient, and some people never develop all of the typical symptoms.
             The cause of Parkinson's is still unknown. There has been a lot of research to find out some sort of relation to the thousands of cases studied, but thus far, there have been few findings to report on. One very important aspect of the research process is the ability to form clusters of patients that have significant relationship to one another. Michael J. Fox is an actor who was diagnosed with Ea...