what is parkinson's disease?
490223
Parkinson's disease (paralysis agitans or PD) is a movement disorder often characterized by muscle rigidity, tremor, a slowing of physical movement (bradykinesia), and in extreme cases, a loss of physical movement (akinesia). The primary symptoms are due to excessive muscle contraction, normally caused by the insufficient formation and action of dopamine, which is produced in the dopaminergic neurons of the brain. Parkinson's disease was first formally recognised and its symptoms documented in 1817 in An Essay on the Shaking Palsy by the British physician Dr James Parkinson; the associated biochemical changes in the brain of patients were identified in the 1960s.\n\n\n\n\nContents [hide]\n1 Symptoms \n1.1 Motor symptoms \n1.2 Non-Motor Symptoms \n2 Incidence \n3 Related diseases \n3.1 Parkinson-Plus diseases \n4 Pathology \n5 Pathophysiology \n5.1 Genetic \n5.2 Toxins \n5.3 Head trauma \n6 Treatments \n6.1 Levodopa \n6.2 Dopamine Agonists \n6.3 MAO-B Inhibitors \n6.4 Surgical Interventions \n6.5 Nutrients \n6.6 Physical exercise \n7 Prognosis \n8 References \n9 External links \n \n\n\n[edit]\nSymptoms\nParkinson disease affects movement (motor symptoms). Typical other symptoms include disorders of mood, behavior, thinking, and sensation (non-motor symptoms). Individual patients' symptoms may be quite dissimilar; progression is also distinctly individual. There are four major dopamine pathways in the brain; the nigrostriatal pathway, referred to above, mediates movement and is the most conspicuously affected in early Parkinson's disease. The other pathways are the mesocortical, the mesolimbic, and the tuberoinfundibular. These pathways are associated with, respectively: volition and emotional responsiveness; desire, initiative, and reward; and sensory processes and maternal behavior. Reduction in dopamine along the non-striatal pathways is the likely explanation for much of the neuropsychiatric pathology associated with Parkinson's disease.\n\n[edit]\nMotor symptoms\nThe cardinal symptoms are:\n\ntremor: 4-7Hz tremor, maximal when the limb is at rest, and decreased with voluntary movement. It is typically unilateral at onset. This is the most apparent and well-known symptom. However, an estimated 30% of patients have little perceptible tremor; these are classified as akinetic-rigid. \nrigidity: stiffness; increased muscle tone. In combination with a resting tremor, this produces a ratchety, "cogwheel" rigidity when the limb is passively moved. \nbradykinesia/akinesia: respectively, slowness or absence of movement. Rapid, repetitive movements produce a dysrhythmic and decremental loss of amplitude. \npostural instability: failure of postural reflexes, which leads to impaired balance and falls. \n(The mnemonic TRAP (Tremor; Rigidity; Akinesia/bradykinesia; Postural instability) can be used to remember these symptoms.)\n\nOther motor symptoms include:\n\nGait and Posture Disturbances: \nShuffling: gait is characterized by short steps, with feet barely leaving the ground, producing an audible shuffling noise. Small obstacles tend to trip the patient \nDecreased arm swing: a form of bradykinesia \nTurning "en bloc": rather than the usual twisting of the neck and trunk and pivoting on the toes, PD patients keep their neck and trunk rigid, requiring multiple small steps to accomplish a turn. \nStooped, forward-flexed posture. In severe forms, the head and upper shoulders may be bent at a right angle relative to the trunk (camptocormia). \nFestination: a combination of stooped posture, imbalance, and short steps. It leads to a gait that gets progressively faster and faster, often ending in a fall. \nGait freezing: "Freezing" is another word for akinesia, the inability to move. Gait freezing is characterized by inability to move the feet, especially in tight, cluttered spaces or when initiating gait. \nDystonia: abnormal, sustained, painful twisting muscle contractions, usually affecting
193551
Contact them.\nhttp://parkinsonindia.org/parkinsonsdisease.htm
875635
Diabetes-endocrinologist, Parkinson's-neurologist,lupus-immunologist
416956
Parkinson disease (PD) was first described in 1817 by Dr. James Parkinson, a British physician, for whom the disease was named.  \n\n\nIt is a disease that is characterized by four major features:\n\nRest tremor of a limb (shaking with the limb at rest) \nSlowness of movement (bradykinesia) \nRigidity (stiffness, increased resistance to passive movement) of the limbs or trunk \nPoor balance (postural instability)
1030904
Well he has Parkinson's Disease\nHe hasn't really been in the media lately because I think his illnes is really progressing\nIt's so sad. He is such a good actor
1056457
yes, along with loss of balance, shuffling gait, slow thinking and difficulty moving and possibly dementia as the disease progresses.\n\nhttp://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/parkinsonsdisease.html
106244
a disease of the hip-----check out the site\n\nhttp://orthoinfo.aaos.org/fact/thr_report.cfm?Thread_ID=160&topcategory=Hip
44856
60,000 new cases are diagnosed every year. \nParkinson disease affects 1 in 100 people over the age of 60, with the average age of onset being 60 years.  It can also affect younger people.  Young-onset Parkinson disease (onset at age 40 or younger) is estimated to occur in 5 – 10% of patients with PD.
1166916
I would think not, as the symptoms are significantly different.  The four primary symptoms of PD are tremor, or trembling in hands, arms, legs, jaw, and face; rigidity, or stiffness of the limbs and trunk; bradykinesia, or slowness of movement; and postural instability, or impaired balance and coordination.  Parkinson's Disease responds amazingly well to a particular medication - Levadopa - that temporarily replenishes Dopamine within the body.\n\nFibromyalgia is usually characterized first and foremost by muscle pain - which as you'll note is not on the list for PD.  Due to this discomfort, patients will complain of stiffness, but the stiffness with PD is of a particular character that is not confusing.
907593
They can be. It's generally more related to being a side effect of the different meds (usually anticholinergic drugs) that are used for Parkinson's than actually being a symptom of the disease, though.
177336
RLS is a poorly understood and often misdiagnosed neurological disorder characterized by unpleasant or painful sensations in the body's extremities and an overwhelming urge to move them.\n\nIt is believed to be genetic.\n\nAntidepressents, antipsychotics and antihistamines can cause the condition as well.\n\nMarijuana, a low-fat diet and prescription drugs can help. If it is really severe, consult a physician who can hook you up with a dopamine agonist or anti-convulsant.\n\nIt's not dangerous, but it can be annoying and irritating. If it is an issue with you, than you can go about treating it if you deem the problem that bad.\n\nYou're not gonna die from it, bottom line.
1025027
Dyskinesia is a medical condition meaning the person afflicted makes bad or abnormal movements. Dyskinesia is sometimes caused by long-term use of anti-psychotic drugs or other dopamine antagonists like the antiemetic metoclopramide. The effect of these drugs can be tardive, meaning the dyskinesia continues or appears even after the drugs are no longer taken (see Tardive dyskinesia). Can be caused by uneven transplants in Parkinson's disease.
256822
I don't know about the Parkinson's disease (may be true), but implants (some called "cerebral pacemakers") in the brain are used for disease that pertain to dysfunctions of electrical firing in specific parts of the brain.  For example, someone with epilepsy is someone who suffers greatly from debilitating seizures.  Electrodes placed in the corpus callosum or hypothalamus (two different areas that cause seizures) of the brain can regulate the 'misfires' that cause the seizures.  Another example is tourette's.  New technology has allowed doctors to place two separate electrodes in different areas of the basal ganglia (are of the brain believed to be behind tourette's) that calm the signals that cause the misguided signals behind the symptoms of tourette's, by, again regulating "misfires" accross this vital are of the brain.
1179334
As my professors have referred many other patients, your best bet would be to do some research.\n\nI have actually come across to a similar situation in the past while doing placement at St. Michael's Hospital, and my recommendation to you would be to contact the national office of Parkinson's Society Canada at (416) 227-9700.\n\nThey are located here in Toronto:\n4211 Yonge Street Suite 316\nM2P 2A9\n\nThey will certainly point you in the right direction.\n\nI wish you the very best of luck, dear.
295329
I am not a neurologist, but delta power in the context of lewy body dementia refers to quantified EEG findings in that disease.  From what I understand, it allows the neurologists to assess the severity of the disease, but unfortunately, I am not sure of that.  Hope that bit helps!
205911
This is what I found:  The single biggest risk factor for PD is advancing age. Men have a slightly higher risk compared to women. Family history is also an important risk factor. Individuals with an affected first-degree relative (parent or sibling) are estimated to have an approximately doubled risk for developing PD. This increased risk is likely to be a combination of environmental and genetic factors that close relations have on common.\n\nThe single factor that has been most consistently associated with a reduced risk of PD is cigarette smoking, which has been demonstrated in numerous studies. It is not known whether smoking confers a genuine protective effect, or whether individuals who are prone to develop PD for other reasons are also prone to avoid smoking. Nonetheless, the negative impact on general health from smoking is enormous, far in excess of any slight reduction in risk for PD. Smoking cannot be recommended as a strategy for avoiding PD.\n\nCaffeine consumption is also associated with a reduced incidence of PD. In women, hormone replacement therapy appears to be associated with a reduced incidence in women who consume only small quantities of caffeine, but may be a risk factor in those who consume more than five cups per day.   http://www.wemove.org/par/par_rfpf.html\n\n\nAND\n\nRisk factors for Parkinson's disease are difficult to identify because the cause of the disease is unknown. Advancing age is the only known risk factor for typical Parkinson's disease (not including early-onset Parkinson's). Most instances of Parkinson's disease occur after age 50, although the illness does occur in people between the ages of 30 and 50, or in rare cases at a younger age.\n\nA very small number of people with Parkinson's have a close relative who also has the disease, but it does not appear that a family history of typical Parkinson's disease significantly increases your risk of developing the disease. Having a family history of the disease is a more significant risk factor in cases of early-onset Parkinson's disease, but this form of the disease is not common. \n\nSome research suggests that long-term exposure to certain environmental factors such as pesticides, chemicals, or well water may increase a person's risk of developing Parkinson's disease, but this has not been proven.\nhttp://www.webmd.com/hw/parkinsons/hw93273.asp?lastselectedguid={5FE84E90-BC77-4056-A91C-9531713CA348\n\nSounds like conflicting information to me.  You might have to do some serious research on this one....
40180
Hi, Doctor here from Rawalpindi\n\nWhat you are looking for is Lewy Body Dementia\nIt is a brain related disorder with features of memory loss, hallucinations or Parkinson like state. Treatable with course of medication dependent on age,heatlh and personal care.\n\nYou have asked about private clinic/hospital for its treatment. As an answer i say\n\n1-- Treatment duration is not fixed and stay at hospital is costly so if there are no financial constraints then move to points below.\n2-- Psychiatric illness experts availble in Rawalpindi will be most helpful as diseases is related to their field.\n3-- Doctors like DR. Fareed Minhas runs his own private clinic on Peshawar road. He is the Head of department of Pyschiatry in Rawalpindi General Hospital and Rawalpindi Medical college. You can get your mother admitted at his private Hospital. The name of the hospital i can't recall but i am 100% its on Peshwar road,rawalpindi.You can get the name of his hospital from Rawalpindi general hospital or Hire some to get the things fixed for you.\n\n2-- Other Doctors are Dr. AAsma Humayun also working under Dr. Fareed Minhas, she runs her own private clinic.Whether she admits any patients to her clinic or not , i am not aware of that.\n\n3-- Valley clinic on peshawar road alos caters for patients like these ,visited by famous doctors as well.\n\n4-- Get her admitted at Shafi Clinic located near Sadiqabad rawalpindi. Run by Dr. Shoaib Shafi . He is head of department of Medicine ,District head quarters hospital, Rawalpindi. He will be helpful with over 20 years of experience in his hand.\n\nWell these are the top places with good doctors for this disorder in rawalpindi. Hope thats helps