Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disease chronic that affects the nervous system, specifically the area that coordinates activity, muscle tone and movements. This area is called substantia nigra.
The cause of the disease, is unknown but there are studies that are moving forward on this issue; It affects equally men and women, and the age of onset varies between 40 and 70 years.
Symptoms occur when there has been a significant loss of neurons, dopaminergic, i.e. which secrete dopamine, neurotransmitter responsible for sending the necessary information to control the functions that we have previously named.
Symptoms of Parkinson's disease
There are 4 symptoms that are the cardinal signs, i.e., the appearance of two of them can orient the diagnosis of Parkinson's:- Resting tremor that disappears to take a position or action, the most affected members are senior, though it can affect anyone. It gets worse with fatigue or stress. It affects more than 70% of those affected. But we need to clarify that there are multiple causes that can cause trembling.
- Muscle stiffness or resistance to extensor and flexor movements of the extremities. It affects mostly wrists and ankles and usually begins with pain or cramps.
- Slow movements that require greater skill or precision, above all, begin and end such movements.
- Postural alterations. The patient tends to adopt a stance with the trunk, head and four limbs bent. This makes it difficult for the March which is usually with small steps.
The progression of the disease varies greatly depending on each patient.
Treatment of Parkinson's disease
Currently, there is no curative treatment of the disease, all are aimed to relieve the symptoms and slow the progression.Drug treatment should be scheduled and controlled by the neurologist , but General will indicate that the aim is to avoid the decrease in dopamine levels.
The rehabilitation is very important to keep an active life of the patient and that self-control of their movements is the largest possible. Using techniques of physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, hydrotherapy, massages, etc. Psychological support is essential for the patient to assume that you have a chronic illness but that it can be alleviated with treatment and effort.
There are very encouraging studies that have discovered a substance that could be involved in its origin and even a few months ago, jumped the news that they are working on a therapeutic vaccine. Despite hopes that this infused into patients and family members, we must remember that this is still in early stages of study.
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