Parkinson’s disease is a progressive nervous system disorder that affects movement. Symptoms start gradually, sometimes starting with a barely noticeable tremor in just one hand. Tremors are common, but the disorder also commonly causes stiffness or slowing of movement.
In the early stages of Parkinson’s disease, your face may show little or no expression. Your arms may not swing when you walk. Your speech may become soft or slurred.
Although Parkinson’s disease can’t be cured, medications might significantly improve your symptoms. Parkinson’s signs and symptoms may include:
Occasionally, your doctor may suggest surgery to cure certain regions of your brain and lessen the symptoms.
Symptoms:-
Tremor, Slowed movement, Rigid muscles, Impaired posture and balance, Loss of automatic movements, Speech changes, Writing changes.
Parkinson’s disease can have an impact on relationships, including friendships. Friends may feel hurt if you reach out less often, unaware that apathy and fatigue are common. Living with Parkinson’s does require re-adjustment as the disease slowly progresses. Depending on the level of impairment, daily activities such as getting dressed, driving and eating may become more challenging over time.
There are no specific tests to diagnose Parkinson diseases. A neurologist will diagnose Parkinson’s disease based on your medical history, a review of your signs and symptoms, and a neurological and physical examination. may suggest a specific single-photon emission computerized tomography SPECT scan called a dopamine transporter (DAT) scan. A single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) scan lets your doctor analyze the function of some of your internal organs. Although this can help support the suspicion that you have Parkinson’s disease, it is your symptoms and neurologic examination that ultimately determine the correct diagnosis. Most people do not require a DAT scan.
The other systems that could be affected by this disease are inside the nervous system itself, it will affect the Somatic nervous system. The person suffering from it won’t be able to perform the voluntary actions properly. It will also affect the circulatory system as his blood flow will reduce and his/her cells will die at a higher rate.
Many neurosurgical procedures have been utilized in order to improve the disabling symptoms these patients harbor.
The initial success of neural transplantation in the rodent and primate parkinsonian models has led to its clinical application in the treatment of parkinsonian patients. These play an important role in the disease.
Economic impact – The cost of illness escalates as PD progresses, placing an economic burden on the healthcare system, society, and patients themselves. Overall cost estimates vary from country to country, but the largest component of direct cost is typically inpatient care and nursing home costs, while prescription drugs are the smallest contributor. Indirect costs arising from lost productivity and carer burden tend to be high. The total cost in the UK has been estimated to be between pound 449 million and pound 3.3 billion annually, depending on the cost model and prevalence rate used.
Political impact – This issue has been entangled in politics for decades. The original Reagan‐ era “moratorium” on funding of research with fetal cadavers was lifted by the Clinton administration in the early 1990s. Then bipartisan congressional action set strict rules. President George W. Bush’s 2001 executive order restricting research on human embryonic stem cell lines “killed most publicly funded embryonic stem cell research in the United States from that point forward,” notes DeGette.
Ethical Impact – And although in 2009 President Obama lifted many of the restrictions, ethical and moral objections to stem cell and fetal tissue research have continued to plague researchers and restrict or eliminate appropriations.
Social Impact – In adults with Parkinson’s disease, degeneration of the brain leads to progressive difficulties that affect movement, but also specific mental abilities that are critical for social functioning. It affects the person’s ability to process emotions and to make social inferences (e.g., take other people’s perspectives, show empathy, etc.).
Other advances – One of the most exciting new drugs in the pipeline is probably exenatide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist which is currently used to treat type II diabetes. Preclinical studies have suggested its role in inhibiting cell death, reducing oxidative stress, enhancing mitochondria function, and promoting neuronal functioning. Levodopa is a treatment for PD which increases levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain.