.What is Parkinson’s Disease?
Parkinson’s Disease — one of the most common age-related neurodegenerative disorder is the disease that affects the movement of your body. The condition occurs when the nerve cells fail to produce the chemical, dopamine. Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that sends signals to your brain that controls movement. Statistics show that an estimated seven to ten million people worldwide suffer Parkinson’s disease. Also, researchers claim that men are 1 to 1/2 times more likely to suffer from Parkison’s as compared to women.
Early Signs and Symptoms:
The signs and symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are quite difficult to diagnose during the early stages. The symptoms differ from person to person, however, there are major signs which you should not ignore. The symptoms can be categorized as motor symptoms and non-motor symptoms.
Motor Symptoms:
- Tremor: It involves involuntary shaking of body parts like a hand, leg or arm while sitting or standing. The tremor usually remains just on one side of the body.It is the first early sign of the disorder. However, it’s not necessary that everyone with tremor has Parkinson’s disease.
Non-Motor(Other) Symptoms:
- Small Handwriting: If your handwriting is getting smaller and smaller than past and if you have noticed the change in the pattern of your hand movement while writing, then it could be one of the warning signs of Parkinson’s.
- Stiffness in muscles and muscle ache: When you walk if you notice a reduced arm swing on one side of your body along with aches and rigidity then its the warning sign of Parkinson’s. Neck, face, throat muscles, legs muscles are prone to go weak and stiff
- Loss of Balance while walking.
- Freezing sensation: You might feel a sudden, short inability to move, that affects walking.
- Lack of Smelling power
- Insomnia
- Constipation
- Dizziness
Causes:
The major cause of developing this disease is degeneration fo certain nerve cells, also called neurons which are responsible for the secretion chemical messenger dopamine. As soon as the dopamine level decreases in our brain, it results in Parkinson’s disease. Yet, the causative agent of Parkinson’s disease is still unknown. However, there are several risk factors that trigger the development of this disease which include:
- Genetic Mutation
- Environmental Factors: Exposure to certain toxins or chemical agents might increase the risk of this disease.
- Presence of Lewy bodies: Formation of clumps on specific brain cells are also microscopic markers of Parkinson’s.
- Age: People above 60 are at high risk of developing Parkinson’s disease than young adults.
- Sex: Men are more likely to develop Parkinson’s compared to women.
Prevention And Treatment
The major downfall of Parkinson’s’ is that it can’t be cured. Despite this fact, there are certain medications that can help check the symptoms. Medications might help you manage the common symptoms of movement and tremor and increase the level of dopamine in your brain. Some of the medications that your doctor prescribe include Carbidopa-levodopa, Dopamine agonists, MAO-B inhibitors, Catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitors, Anticholinergics, Amantadine, and so on.
For prevention, it’s suggested to change your lifestyle and seek for physical therapies that focus on the balance of your body. Some research has also shown that caffeine — which is found in coffee, tea and cola may reduce the risk of developing Parkinson’s.
