The Impact of Parkinson’s Disease: Analytical Essay

Abstract

This paper plumbs together information about Parkinson’s Disease that no one would ever want to experience in their life, whether it be for themselves or any family member. This disease starts off at a very slow pace and then goes to its limit as I have discussed in the following report. This report goes through the causes of Parkinson’s disease. The report goes into detail on what symptoms a patient with Parkinson’s Disease has to suffer and how their daily routine might be affected. Along with the details on the symptoms, this report also goes through the treatments that are possible to help with the patient suffering.

The Impact of Parkinson’s Disease

In this disease, nerve cells of the brain are affected and specifically, those nerve endings that are connected with the automated functions of the body, such as, heart rate and blood pressure. The disease is due mainly because of the decrease in an important brain chemical called dopamine which leads to issues in movement of the body. The role of dopamine is to transmit signals within the brain so that the physical movements produced are carried out smoothly and without any issues. When the neurons carrying this chemical are damaged or are killed due to the disease(Seppi, 2019), then this results in a communication gap between the brain and the muscles causing the body to have weak signals making movement harder and slower. This then results in weak muscle movements which then leads to fatigue. Another chemical that is very important for our body to have is called norepinephrine is required by the body to perform the automated functions(Seppi, 2019). A decrease in the level of this chemical may also lead to one developing this disease. This chemical is produced in certain nerve endings found in the brain which may have been lost over the duration of time of the disease.

Causes

Genetic Mutation

Parkinsons is due to a genetic mutation, however, in some cases, the reason for the disease may not be known. A mutation affects the normal activities of the cells to be carried out as they should be and disrupts the cycle of the cell. Through research, it has been proved that the disease may be caused by the mutation of five particular genes or their alterations. Some of these mutations may result in the individual carrying the disease while others may increase their risk factor of developing the disease at some point in their life(White, 2019). Research is still going on and sometime in the future, it might be proven that there are many other genes that when mutated may result in the disease or also which one of those may be inherited.

Hereditary

Parkinson’s Disease may be due to heredity, that is, maybe in the family and is passed to someone from their parents or siblings(Ascherio, 2020). Most of the cases of Parkinson’s disease have shown that they are not heredity but due to gene mutation in the course of the individual’s birth.

The age and sex factor takes a big account of who has the disease. One of the main factors of Parkinson’s disease is age as it is more common in older individuals than children. Besides the age factor, men are more prone to the disease than are women due to their sex(Williamson, 2018).

Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease. Parkinson’s Disease affects the normal everyday automated functions of our body then we can predict what the symptoms might be. Individuals who carry this disease have a hard time controlling their blood pressure and heart rate. As time passes, they might also have difficulty walking and talking. When it comes to blood pressure, they might feel that they have had a sudden drop in their blood pressure when they stand up from another position, such as sitting down or from their sleep.

Low Level of Norepinephrine. The loss of norepinephrine may cause the individual to feel fatigued or decreased in the movement of food through the digestive tract. Such people have difficulty in their food passing through their digestive tract may lead to a very serious problem. This is because this will usually result in them having difficulty swallowing., putting them at risk of also having problems breathing normally. Not necessary but this may cause their food to enter their pharynx instead of their esophagus at some point while eating or drinking liquids. If this does occur, then it may cause them to choke on their food.

Mental/Behavioral Changes. Some individuals may also developmental and behavioral changes, such as having difficulty sleeping, memory loss or even depression. Their movement may become slower than usual because their body becomes stiff which gradually leads to issues in their balance. One might not be able to stand straight and may always have to lean somewhat when standing.

Tremors. Even though these are all symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, the very first symptom which may be seen in most individuals is the shaking of the body. The limbs or body parts, such as the hands or feet of the person start to shake when they are at rest or they seem to be having tremors of some sort. The tremors usually start on one side of the body and may increase from time to time.

Treatments For Parkinson’s Disease

The treatment for Parkinson’s disease is not fixed, it may vary for every individual depending on their symptoms and their severity. The treatment given to the patient may be one that involves medication, or it may be surgical. The most common of them is for doctors to prescribe medication according to the symptoms that the patient shows. These medicines may have to be taken at different times of the day and may vary in their dosage. It is very important for a patient to keep up with their medication and to take it on time to lower the possibilities of their symptoms to show up again and again. Surgery is taken into action only if the medication has no effects on the patient. Surgery may involve the transplantation of stem cells and is performed rarely. Other than taking medication, doctors may also advise their patients to change their lifestyle if they are not satisfied with it. This may involve having to do regular exercise to a certain extent and even taking more rest if that is not part of their daily routine. Exercise does not specifically mean having to go to the gym and standing on the treadmill. Obviously, a person with this disease would not be able to do that but what they can do is to walk a little every day if that is something they do not already do. Other than that, they can even exercise their hands and legs when they are sitting or lying down.

Conclusion

Parkinson’s Disease is a disorder of the nervous system that is long term. The symptoms differ in every patient, it can have severe to calm symptoms. The symptoms that a patient might have can range from having tremors in body parts to feeling fatigued. Currently, there is no treatment or cure to Parkinson’s Disease because the severity and the symptoms differ in every patient. Scientists are still currently researching and are trying to find cures for Parkinson’s disease so the world can stop worrying about a disease that affected family members in the past.

References

1. Ascherio, M. (2020, January 20). Long-Term Use of Antibiotics and Risk of Parkinson’s Disease in the Nurses’ Health Study. Retrieved January 25, 2020, from https://www.hindawi.com/journals/pd/2020/4038375/
2. Brown, C. (2019, October 13). Parkinson’s disease – Genetics Home Reference – NIH. Retrieved from https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/parkinson-disease
3. Gregory, J. (2019, December 27). Does Parkinson’s Cause Vision Issues? Retrieved from https://parkinsonsdisease.net/clinical/vision-issues-symptom/
4. Seppi, K., Chaudhuri, K. R., Coelho, M., Fox, S. H., Katzenschlager, R., Weintraub, D., … Perez Lloret, S. (2019, January 17). Update on treatments for nonmotor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease-an evidence‐based medicine review. Retrieved January 28, 2020, from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/mds.27602
5. White, M. (2019, February 11). Treatment. Retrieved January 25, 2020, from https://www.parkinson.org/Treatment
6. Williamson, R. (2018, August 23). Parkinson’s Disease. Retrieved from https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/parkinsons-disease