A Person With Parkinson's Disease

By the time someone shows signs and symptoms of Parkinson 's, Dopamine production in the brain has been reduced by 60 to 80% and is fairly advanced. This results in the most recognizable sign of Parkinson 's disease, the resting tremor of the hand or hands. During deliberate movement, the resting tremor goes away, at first. At rest, the tremor will become exacerbated,

The main symptoms and signs of Parkinson’s are bradykinesia, rigidity and rest tremor. Parkinson’s is mainly seen as a movement disorder, but other areas of health problems are associated with it. These include depression and dementia along with autonomic disturbances and pain, although considered to be rare they can present at a later stage of the condition. These rarer symptoms, as they progress, can lead to substantial disability and handicap which harms quality of life for the person living with Parkinson’s, this also has an impact on families and carer’s.

J.N., a 65-year-old Caucasian female with a history of anxiety and depression, presents for diagnostic testing at Saint Mary Medical Center in Hobart, Indiana to confirm or deny a diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease, after presenting with recent onset of upper extremity tremor affecting both sides and facial masking. Patient history also includes bradykinesia, restlessness, fatigue, muscle weakness, and poor balance and coordination, all of which are common in a diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease. J.N. was referred to the Neurology Department of Saint Mary Medical Center after a routine appointment with her Cardiologist, who noted the recent onset of additional signs and symptoms. J.N. is my mother and my inspiration for this assignment.

Parkinson disease (PD), also referred to as Parkinson’s disease and paralysis agitans, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that is the third most common neurologic disorder of older adults. It is a debilitating disease affecting motor ability and is characterized by four cardinal symptoms: tremor rigidity, bradykinesia or kinesis (slow movement/no movement), and postural instability. Most people have primary, or idiopathic, disease. A few patients have secondary parkinsonian symptoms from conditions such as brain tumors and certain anti-psychotic drugs.

Parkinson’s disease is a disorder that progresses over time. It affects your movement through your nervous system; the disorder causes stiffness, and slow movement in your body. Most noticeably started in little “tremors” in your hands it gradually increases over time. Early stages consists little expression in your face or no movement in your arms as you walk. Your speech may also slur, or slow down. Symptoms usually worsen over time.

To be honest, Parkinson’s disease scares me; the eventuality of being frozen inside of my own body is terrifying. I have a customer that has shopped with us for at least the past seven years. I can remember when his hands started to shake so badly that he would just hold his coin purse out to me to select his change for him. Now he can’t even remove his own wallet from his back pocket. He will turn around and I pull out his wallet, take out his money or credit card to complete his transaction and then put his wallet back into his back pocket. We don’t talk about it and I try to act like I don’t even notice it, but I do and it’s terrifying.

Not only does Parkinson’s take away your ability to control your muscles, it also affects the control of your mind. These non-motor symptoms cause disabilities as well as lower the health-related quality of life for patients who are affected (Chaudhuri, 2011). Developing neuropsychiatric and other non-motor symptoms is not uncommon. Depression, anxiety, reduced cognitive function, insomnia, fatigue, and autonomic disturbances have been found in these patients (Poewe). Dementia is another major concern when dealing with Parkinson’s patients. The incidence of dementia occurring is close to eighty percent (Parkinson’s, 2010). Risk factors for the development of dementia include

Parkinson's Disease is a chronic and progressive neurodegenerative disorder that can affect body movements which can cause uncontrollable tremors of the hands, arms, legs, and face

Addressing the question of nature vs. nurture, Dr. Sonia Mathur states that “Genetics loads the gun, environment pulls the trigger” (Mathur).

Parkinson’s Disease is known as one of the most common progressive and chronic neurodegenerative disorders. It belongs to a group of conditions known as movement disorders. Parkinson disease is a component of hypokinetic disorder because it causes a decreased in bodily movement. It affects people who are usually over the age of 50. It can impair an individual motor as well as non-motor function. Some of the primary symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are characterized by tremors or trembling in hands, legs and arms. In early symptoms the tremor can be unilateral, appearing in one side of body but progression in the disease can cause it to spread to both sides; rigidity or a resistant to movement affects most people with Parkinson’s disease,

To obtain a valid diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, clinicians should examine some motor and non-motor features. The motor features of Parkinson’s disease are characterized by resting tremors, muscular rigidity, bradykinesia, and postural and gait impairment. According to Samii, Nutt, and Ransom, “A resting tremor with a frequency of 3-5 Hz is the first symptom in 70% of Parkinson’s disease patients” (1783). Most people, if they have tremors, do not have this range of frequency. Hand tremors are more common in patients as a presenting sign than foot tremors, and they usually get worse with anxiety and walking. Rigidity is another sign of Parkinson’s disease, which is more prevalent in the tremulous limb. Rigidity is the inability

Rigidity in PD causes for stiff muscles and they often are resistant when attempting movement. One hypothesis for the clinical manifestation of rigidity in PD is that excitability within the long-loop reflex pathways produces the increase in muscle tone (Baradaran, 2013). Another theory includes contribution by the reticulospinal tracts. PD causes for incorrect control of interneurons to occur within the spinal pathways. This causes for IA interneurons to be increased and for IB interneurons to be diminished, this produces tonic facilitation in the stretch reflex, which in turn creates the rigidity (Santens, Boon Van Roost, & Caemaert,

In 1817, James Parkinson published his famous treatise: "An Essay on the Shaking Palsy," describing the symptoms which now collectively bear his name. Although many scientists before his time had described various aspects of motor dysfunction (ataxia, paralysis, tremor) Parkinson was the first to collect them into a common syndrome; one which he believed formed a distinctive condition. His sixty-six page essay contained five chapters describing symptoms, differential diagnoses, causality, possible treatments, and prospects for future study. What is most intriguing concerning Parkinson’s analysis (besides its consistent accuracy) is the fact that his clinical observations and inferences were made by watching the

The main motor features of Parkinson’s disease include tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity, and impairment of postural balance. Tremor is a common symptom at an early stage of PD, it can be seen in 70% of patients approximately. Typically, it occurs at a frequency of 3-5 Hz causing a ‘pill rolling’ movement of the thumb and index finger. The tremor may also extend to the forearm or even to the elbow and upper arm. Bradykinesia is defined as the slowness of voluntary

Parkinson’s disease is a movement disorder characterized by slowness of movement, weakness, tremors, as well as stiffness. It is a disease that gets progressively worse over time. Sufferers can also experience cognitive declines as well as depression. The precise mechanisms that cause it are not yet fully known, however it is known That a dysfunction in the basal ganglia is present. (Burch,2005) Though a lot of research has been done to get to the bottom of this disease. The topic of its history, its pathophysiology, and it treatment, are all cover in the article Parkinson’s disease. (Burch,2005)