Parkinsons

Parkinson's disease is a brain disorder. It occurs when certain nerve cells in a part of the brain called the substantia nigra die or become impaired. These cells produce dopamine, which is a vital chemical, dopamine, allows smooth function of the body and its muscles. When eight percent of the cells are destroyed or damaged signs of Parkinson's start to appear. Parkinson's disease usually affects people over the age of sixty. More than 1,000,000 people are diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in the United States. Parkinson's also can develop in young people.10 percent of the people diagnosed with Parkinson's develop symptoms before the age of 50. These symptoms go unnoticed by friends, family, and even the person who was Parkinson's. Parkinson's affects men and women in almost equal numbers. Parkinson's shows no social, racial, economic or geographic boundaries. Around 60,000 cases are diagnosed each year, adding to the 1,000,000 people that already have Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's has four main symptoms: rigidity or stiffness of the arms legs or neck. Hands usually experience slight tremors. Another symptom is Bradykinesia or slowness and reduction of movement, and loss of balance. Other symptoms that go along with the main ones are; depression, dementia or confusion, postural deformity, speech and swallowing difficulty, drooling, dizziness when quick movements are performed, often urination, and constipation.

Emotions can make Parkinson's disease much worse than it already is. Anxiety, tension, and unhappiness may make the symptoms worse. Relaxing will help ease symptoms, so it is important that people who have Parkinson's have a non-stressful life. Sometimes during stress short outbreaks occur known as "paradoxical outburst," during this short period the person with Parkinson's will be able to move fluidly, without the regular twitches he/she experiences.

Treatment may help control symptoms during the beginning stages of Parkinson's disease. Treatment is usually started when the symptoms start to effect the person's ability to do daily tasks. For example, a right handed person with tremors only on its left side may not feel limited by the effects and can still move pretty fluidly. As soon as the tremors begin on the right side, the person needs to look into treatment. A person who cannot do their job due to the effects should consider treatment as soon as possible, but a person who does not work or the symptoms do not effect their work, they can look into treatment later.

There are a few things you can do to watch out for Parkinson's disease. If you experience any of the symptoms, as in you notice a tremor developing, watch and record its development. Make sure to have a written description, because it will help your doctor make a diagnosis. Discuss the problem with your doctor at the next possible opportunity. Some questions to consider are, did the tremor start suddenly or gradually? What makes it worse or better? What parts of your body are affected?

There are some tests that can help doctors distinguish Parkinson's disease from any other sickness. A diagnosis of Parkinson's disease is based on your medical past and a thorough exam. There are no lab tests that can strictly diagnose Parkinson's, if the symptoms are not entirely related to Parkinson's then the doctor may run a couple of tests. The doctor may have you take a blood test and this can check for abnormal thyroid hormone levels or liver damage. A MRI may be used to check for sings of a stroke or a brain tumor. A new imagery test becoming available is PET; this test measures the amount of dopamine in the Brain. This testing is very new and extremely expensive, it is not usually used to diagnose Parkinson's. This is not available in many Hospitals, and is used experimentally. Although this is not used very often, this machine is going to become very helpful in the diagnosing of Parkinson's.

Drugs for Parkinson's are