Essay on Parkinson's Disorder

Introduction

Parkinson's disorder is a continuous nervous system illness, which affects peoples' movement. Parkinson's disease etiology is highly attributed to environmental and genetic factors (Ronken & Schnarrenburg, 2002). Particular genetic mutations have been identified to cause this disease. However, this is not a common cause except for cases with many family members having the disease. Some gene variations seem to raise the risk of this disease with each genetic maker having a small chance of Parkinson's disease. Exposure to some environmental factors or toxins such as pesticides and head injuries can increase the risk, but the threat from these factors is small (Ronken & Schnarrenburg, 2002). Lewy bodies are also a probable cause of the disorder. Lewy bodies are a concentration of specific microscopic substances in the brain cells and are a significant cause of the Parkinson's disease. Alpha-synuclein is a protein associated with this disorder. The disease affects mostly the elderly than the young and male are more prone to the disorder than female. The difference is due to the muscle movement and mental faculties. Men have random muscle movement, and the psychological activity differs from women, therefore, the high risk.

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Diagnosis

Parkinson's disease does not have an objective test for definitive diagnosis, therefore, cannot be diagnosed through a blood test or scanning. The determination of this disorder is done by having a neurological examination and taking the patient's medical history (Vine, 2017). During the study, the doctor uses the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale to help assess and determine the possibility of this disease. The DAT scan is a technology used to determine the amount of dopamine in the brain, which aids the diagnosis (Vine, 2017). Parkinson's disease has no specific laboratory tests for diagnosis. The tools used include the DAT scan to determine dopamine amounts, Kinesia assessment to analyze the movement symptoms, Parkinson's KinetiGraph, which measures people's movements as they carry out their daily activities and mobile applications that are used to monitor Parkinson's patients.

Significant Signs and Symptoms

Generally, symptoms of the Parkinson's disease are movement-related since the neurotransmitter nerve cells (dopamine) are destroyed. There is an overall slowing of movement (bradykinesia) and postural instability (Goldenholz, 2017). Specific symptoms are tremor (involuntary shaking) or slight shaking can be experienced in the thumb, finger, chin or the hand. Shaking may not be normal and may happen when at rest. A person can also show changes in handwriting; it becomes smaller, the letter sizes change, and writings may be crowded on a page. The changes may be because of micrographia (a type of Parkinson's disease). Another symptom is loss of smell is also another sign. One may have lost smell on certain foods, or there may be some struggle trying to smell foods such as bananas, licorice or dill pickles. Normally, the smell can change from a stuffy nose or flu but a person should regain it when they become better. Further, trouble when sleeping where a person can act out dreams when they are sleeping or may thrash around when in bed (a behavior that may be out of the normal tossing and turning). These movements can be irritating to another person especially the spouse. Other notable symptoms include trouble when walking or moving, constipation, stooping/slouching/leaning or hunching over, and feeling dizzy.

There are similar diseases that can be confused with the Parkinson's disease. One of the diseases is Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) which is related to dementia (Goldenholz, 2017). PSP patients have gait abnormality symptoms similar to Parkinson's disease. However, PSP patients have unique eye-related changes; one may have trouble looking downward and has to move the head since the nerves controlling eye movements may have been affected (Goldenholz, 2017).

Genetic Pattern

Genetic mutation is one of the major causes of Parkinson's disease. Therefore, the condition has a genetic component. An approximate of 15 percent of Parkinson patients have this disorder in their family history. Mutations in genes such as PARK7, SNCA, PINK1, and PRKN cause this disease, therefore, it is a disorder with a genetic component (Nass & Przedborski, 2008). This disease can be inherited, but the inheritance pattern is different depending on the altered gene. The inheritance may have a dominant or recessive pattern with either one parent with the gene or both parents. The inheritance chances of this disorder are however minimal as some gene alterations do not cause the disease.

Treatment

Parkinson's disease does not have a specific treatment procedure; the treatment is usually aimed at increasing dopamine levels and reducing or relieving the symptoms (Ahlskog, 2015). Some drugs used in the treatment include carbidopa and Levodopa, which is a drug used to boost the levels of dopamine and suppress the symptoms such as nausea and vomiting (Ahlskog, 2015). Dopamine agonists and amantadine drugs are also used to increase dopamine levels in the brain, and Artane and Cogentin are used to restore a balance between acetylcholine, dopamine and brain chemicals. This disorder can also be treated through an operation in critical cases. Motor symptoms of the disease develop fast in early stages and slower later if not treated but once addressed it is easy to manage the disorder. Disability has therefore been controlled largely, and Parkinson's disease affects the life expectancy of its patients.

References

Ahlskog, J. E. (2015). The new Parkinson's disease treatment book: partnering with your doctor to get the most from your medications. New York: Oxford University Press.

Goldenholz, S. (2017). Disorders with symptoms similar to parkinson's disease. Retrieved from https://www.livestrong.com/article/254959-disorders-with-symptoms-similar-to-parkinsons-disease/

Nass, R., & Przedborski, S. (2008). Parkinson's disease: molecular and therapeutic insights from model systems. Boston: Elsevier Academic Press.

Ronken, E., & Schnarrenburg, G. J. (2002). Parkinson's disease. Amsterdam IOS Press 2002: IOS Press.

Vine, J. M. (2017). A Parkinson's primer: an indispensable guide to Parkinson's disease for patients and their families. Philadelphia: Paul Dry Books.