Essay on Parkinson’s Disease - 1305 Words

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a chronic neurological disease that effects about 329 per 100,000 people in the US. The average onset of this disease usually is for people over the age of 50, with the baby boomers getting older there may be an increase in this disease, as much as 9 million people worldwide. (Pawha 2010) Etiology The disease happens when the cells in the brain are damaged or stop-producing Dopamine, which helps with muscle movement, thus leaves those patients unable to control their movements. The exact cause is still not known but doctors believe that toxins such as free radicals may be a factor in causing this disease. (Amoniff, 1994) Others have thought that the natural process of aging causes the brain to lose the†¦show more content†¦Pathogeneses James Parkinson founded this disease in 1817 when he wrote a paper on the clinical symptoms that he had seen.(Nussbaum, 1997) The Disease is a neurodegenerative(loss of a functioning neuron) movement disorder caused by the damage to the dopamine cells in the brain. (Moore, 2005) This is a result from the loss of function of the basal ganglia cells, which in turn is caused from the failure of dopamine cells in the substantis nigra, located in the mid-brain. (Aminoff, 1994) The body cannot produce enough dopamine in the brain and therefore the voluntary movement that you do daily cannot be controlled when you have this disease. Therefore, when there is a lack of dopamine the muscle movement cannot be controlled, causing the tremors or shuffle steps. (Aminoff, 1994) The Lewy Bodies (which are abnormal proteins that develop inside a neuron) upon autopsy has been the hallmark sign of PD. These Lewy Bodies are a result of abnormal proteins that interferes with normal protein removal this t hen leads to the creation of inclusions inside the neuron and then into cell death.(Nussbaum, 1997) Diagnosis There is no definitive diagnosis for this disease but rather signs and symptoms that are seen in almost every patient with this disease. These signs and symptoms are often called hallmarkShow MoreRelatedThe Parkinsons Disease1596 Words   |  6 PagesMany people around the world today suffer from Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders. A movement disorder is a disorder impairing the speed, fluency, quality, and ease of movement. There are many types of movement disorders such as impaired fluency and speed of movement (dyskinesia), excessive movements (hyperkinesia), and slurred movements (hypokinesia). 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