Saturday, March 1, 2008

Parkinson's disease




Brief description:

Parkinson's disease is a disorder of the brain that leads to shaking (tremors) and difficulty with walking, movement, and coordination.Usually beginning in a person's late fifties or early sixties, Parkinson disease causes a progressive decline in movement control, affecting the ability to control initiation, speed, and smoothness of motion.

Signs & symptoms:

  • muscle rigidity

  • Unstable, stooped, or slumped-over posture
  • Loss of balance
  • Gait (walking pattern) changes

  • Shuffling walk
  • Slow movement
  • Muscle aches and pains
  • Shaking, tremors
  • Changes in facial expression
  • Voice or speech chages
  • Loss of fine motor skills
  • Frequent falls

Additional symptoms that may be associated with this disease:

  • Depression

  • Confusion

  • Dementia

  • Seborrhea

  • Loss of muscle function or feeling

  • Muscle atrophy

  • Memory loss

  • Drooling

  • Anxiety, stress, and tension

Causes: Parkinson's disease occurs when the nerve cells in the part of the brain that controls muscle movement are gradually destroyed. The damage gets worse with time. The exact reason that the cells of the brain waste away is unknown. The disorder may affect one or both sides of the body, with varying degrees of loss of function. maybe toxins, genetics, head trauma, or drug-induced






Diagnosis: There are currently no blood or laboratory tests that have been proven to help in diagnosing PD. Therefore the diagnosis is based on medical history and a neurological examination. The disease can be difficult to diagnose accurately.

Treatment: There is no known cure for Parkinson's disease. The goal of treatment is to control symptoms.

Prevention: There is no known way to prevent Parkinson disease.

major organ system affected: immune system and nervous system

Epidemiology: Nationwide, as many as 1.5 million people suffer from Parkinson's, according to the Parkinson's Disease Foundation. A chronic and progressive disorder, Parkinson's strikes slightly more men than women and more whites than blacks in the United States. Though the disease is found most often in patients over 50, as many as 10 percent of patients--afflicted with the so-called "young-onset" Parkinson's--are under 40. About 50,000 Americans are diagnosed with Parkinson's yearly.

References: http://www.bigcscottsboro.com/hipics/parkin.jpg, http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/common/standard/transform.jsp?requestURI=/healthatoz/Atoz/ency/parkinson_disease.jsp, http://www.healthline.com/adamcontent/parkinsons-disease/2#supportgroups, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinsons_disease, http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/1998/498_pd.html

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