People stricken by Parkinson's disease need extra attention

Parkinson's disease is a disorder of the brain that leads to tremors or uncontrollable shaking, difficulty with walking and coordination. It is also known as idiopathic Parkinsonism and primary Parkinsonism and is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system. The symptoms are caused by the death of dopamine-generating cells in the middle region of the brain. Dopamine is an organic chemical that plays an important part in the physiological roles in most animals. It functions as a neurotransmitter that sends signals to the other cells.

The onset of the disease is obvious from symptoms that are movement-related. Mild tremors, rigidity in movements, uncontrollable slowness of movement and general difficulty with walking and change in normal gait. Tremors may not be evident in almost 30% of the people at the onset of the disease and may develop as the disease progresses. The tremor occurs at rest and disappears with movement and sleep. It may start off with one limb and later progress to the other limb as well. Slowness of movement of Bradykinesia affects fine motor control and tasks like writing, sewing or getting dressed take painfully long time. Rigidity is caused by muscle tone and continued contraction of muscles and may be associated with joint pain. As the disease progresses, rigidity affects the whole body and movement gets greatly restricted. Advanced stages of the disease leads to impaired balance resulting in frequent falls. The falls could result in fractures. The number of falls could increase with the progression of the disease to the advanced stages. Walking may be characterized by rapid shuffling steps. Speech and swallowing disturbances are common along with voice disorders and a masklike expression on the face.

There could be problems with memory and frustrating moments when the name of a person or place that was very familiar would simply fail to appear. Simple words in the language one is familiar with would be difficult to utter, and attempts at making a decision could prove to be futile. Advanced stages of the disease could result in dementia which is a syndrome affecting memory, attention, language skills, and problem solving. It may take up to 6 months to be detected after onset. Disorientation in relation to time is very common. A person may not know what time, day or moth or year it is. He may not recognize or realize the place he is in and would at times become delirious. This stage is progressive and incurable. Parkinson's is also associated with disturbed sleep, sensory problems and emotional disturbances. It normally strikes the elderly and occurs after the age of 50. There is no known cause other than that it is geriatric or related to old age. There could be cases that have a genetic origin as well. There is inconclusive evidence that exposure to some pesticides could increase the risk and tobacco smokers have a reduced risk. However that is no license to smoke as it has been established that the health hazards from smoking far outweigh benefits, if any.

There is no cure for Parkinson's; the only recourse may be medication, surgery and multidisciplinary management that could offer a bit of relief. Treating motor symptoms associated with this disease used to be a common practice before the advent of modern drugs. However, for people whom drug therapy may not be sufficient, surgery is still a viable option as there have been great improvements in surgical techniques as well. Surgery could consist of deep brain stimulation and lesional. Deep brain stimulation involves implantation of a medical device known as a brain pacemaker which sends electrical impulses to specific parts of the brain whenever required. Rehabilitation by way of physical exercise and physiotherapy can be beneficial and help in improving mobility and flexibility which are vital for recovery.