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What should you expect when it comes to treatment for Parkinson’s disease? Well firstly, let us tell you if you didn’t already know that Parkinson’s disease is chronic and progressive. Over time people with Parkinson’s disease will develop problems with speech and movement.
We have always thought that Parkinson is a disease for elderly people but it also can strike young people. However, according to the American Academy of Neurology most people with Parkinson’s disease, develop the first signs of the disease after 40 years of age and it is more common in people of 70 to 80 years of age. Another Parkinsons disease facts is that it affects approximately 3% of all over 65′s. Today there are different therapies and medications for relieving symptoms of Parkinsons and there are also a variety of treatment for Parkinsons disease. This illness now belongs to a group of conditions called motor system disorders. These disorders result from the loss of certain brain cells, which produce a chemical called dopamine. Dopamine helps transmit signals within the brain.
There are four primary signs of Parkinson’s disease that are mentioned below:
• Shaking or trembling of the hands, arms, legs, jaw and face, which are more noticeable when they sit quietly.
• Stiffness of the limbs and trunk.
• Kinesia or slowness of movement, such as writing, walking or talking.
• Balance and coordination are affected.
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Patients also have difficulty walking, talking or completing other simple tasks. The primary symptoms are subtle and occur gradually. According to the National Parkinson Foundation, depression affects 40 percent of patients with this disease. In some patients, there may be other problems such as regulation of blood pressure or heart rate.
Like other chronic illnesses, the treatment of Parkinson’s disease must be continuous. The benefit for most patients is the improvement of symptoms and the ability to maintain adequate physical activity. Many patients can continue working without further problems. Essentially, the current treatment involves the administration of specific drugs and physiotherapy. Thanks to effective drugs available, they have managed to maintain patient autonomy, after many years of research. Contrast this with the original diagnosis of the illness where many sufferers were bound to a wheelchair shortly after the symptoms began.
To be effective, drugs must be taken exactly as prescribed by the physician. It is important to remember that if the patient stops taking the drugs, the symptoms reappear. Moreover, since the response to drugs may be different in each patient, an effective dose may be insufficient for another. At the level of experimental surgery brain transplants have been performed with tissue from the patient’s own adrenal gland, which have not been successful. Another method which has significantly improved the patient is using stimulators or a “brain pacemaker” which is necessary to introduce microelectrodes in certain areas of the basal ganglia and through them are given mini electrical stimulation that achieves good results.
The cause of Parkinson’s disease are unknown but genetics, aging, and toxins are being researched. Another process that seems to be successful in the future, is the biogenetic engineering, which has special cells that produce a substance called nerve growth factor, with which at least in theory, probably will be achieved repopulating the brain with dopamine-producing cells. This is also known as stem cell research Parkinsons disease. In theory “blank” brain cells would be grown in the laboratory and then transplanted into the patient. This is proving to be a major challenge but until that day there are many other treatment for Parkinsons disease available.