Parkinson’s disease- Overview, early signs, symptoms, causes and treatment

Overview

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive nervous system disorder which arises problems with movements. This disease is named after a British physician, James Parkinson who first described it in 1817 through an essay. Coordinated and smooth muscles are possible due to a substance in brain, which is known as dopamine and this disorder affects the nerves which produces dopamine.

This disease begins gradually and gets worsen over time. As the symptoms starts getting worse, the person starts facing difficulty in walking and talking. They may also experience sleep problems, behavioural changes, memory difficulties, depression as well as fatigue.

This has been seen that this disease affects 50% more men compared to women. One very common reason which causes Parkinson’s disease is age. People generally develop it at the age of 60. Only 5% of people experience it before the age of 50, which is called ‘early-onset’ Parkinson’s disease. This may be due to inherited genes but not always.

Parkinson’s disease cannot be cured completely but there are many options available to manage the symptoms and provide you relief. It has been notes that, in Unites States Parkinson’s disease is the 14th major cause of death and around half a million are living with this condition.

Early signs of Parkinson’s disease

Movement: You may experience a tremor in your hands.
Voice: Also there may be tremor in the voice as well or the person’s voice may become softer than before.
Coordination: Sense of coordination and balance may reduce and can lead to fall.
Handwriting: Handwriting may become cramped and smaller.
Sense of smell: Loss of sense of smell can be an early sign.
Gait: The person’s posture may change so that he may lean forward slightly.
Sleep problems: You may have problems in sleep and may experience restless legs during sleep.

Symptoms of Parkinson’s disease

Change in mood or depression
Constipation
Sleep problems
Difficulty in chewing and swallowing
Problem while urinating
Skin problems
Voice changes
Stooped posture
Tremor
Slow movements
Tendency to fall
Problem in balancing your body
Some less common symptoms may include:-
Blank facial expression
Decreased blinking and swallowing
Tendency to get stuck while walking
Reduced arm swinging
Low-speech volume

Severe symptoms may include:-

Flaky white or yellow scales on the oily parts of your skin
Risk of melanoma
Disturbance in sleep such as vivid dreams, movement during sleep and talking.
Depression
Anxiety
Hallucinations
Psychosis
Memory problems
Difficulty in visual-spatial relationships

Causes of Parkinson’s disease

Lower levels of dopamine and norepinephrine cause Parkinson’s disease.
Abnormal proteins called Lewy bodies have also been seen connected with Parkinson’s disease.

Some group of people are more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease:-

Sex: Men are more likely to susceptible toward Parkinson’s disease tan women.
Race: More than Africans or Asians, whites are more likely to have this disease.
Age: It affects elderly people more, that is who are more than 60 years of age. According to India’s best online pharmacy store, only in 5-10% of cases, it appears in people less than 50 years of age.
Family history: If you have close family member in your family who has Parkinson’s disease then your chance of getting affected by Parkinson’s disease increases.
Toxins: Exposure toward certain toxins triggers the chance of getting affected by the disease.
Head injury: People who have experienced disease associated with head are susceptible toward this disorder.

Treatment for Parkinson’s disease

Treatment of Parkinson’s disease depends on different factors such as lifestyle changes, therapies and medications.

Balanced diet, exercise and adequate rest are important in treatment of Parkinson’s disease.

Medications are also required to treat this.

Drugs and medications for Parkinson’s disease

Levodopa

It is the most commonly used for Parkinson’s disease and it works on 75 per cent of the cases. Levopoda is generally given with the combination of carbidopa.

Dopamine agonists

This medicine can initiate the action of dopamine in the brain and they are little bit less active compared to Levopoda. This is given when the Levopoda medicine does not work in case.

Anticholinergics

This medicine helps to block the parasympathetic nervous system which can help you with rigidity.

You can get these groups of medicine from online pharmacy store, 3MEDS.

Outlook

It is a lifelong condition and there is no cure to it, but the symptoms are manageable. It can affect the day to day activities or daily life of a person, it may cat like a hindrance. Therapies and medications can help you to live normally by managing the symptoms. Be positive be healthy.