What is Parkinson`s Disease?

It is easy for us to recognice the person who get this disease. Shaking or tremor along with the declining ability to move body parts. Firstly, the person did not identified that he get the disease because its start slowly. This disease is a slowly deterioration of control over voluntary movements. There are two types of disturbances occur, a tremor or shaking that is characteristic of the disease and a decreased ability to move parts of the body.

For your information, the other name for Parkinson`s disease is ‘motor’ disorder because it involves mostly movement.Almosts 200 years ago, Dr James Parkinson first describes a disorder of nervous system which patients` movement were impaired.Their hand had a peculiar sort of shaking. Everything they did seemed slowed down. They were stiff all over and had trouble maintaining their posture.

As more and more physicians studied Parkinson`s “syndrome” , “parkinsonism” they found a number of different cause for it but still a pure syndrome with no known cause that is the true Parkinson`s disease. Research shows this illness is due to reduced production of a certain parts of the brain, which then impairs the function of other close parts of the brain. The chemical is dopamine. The site in the brain that make too little dopamine are the substantia niagra and the locus coeruleus. The deprived recipient of dopamine is an area called thee basal ganglia. The basal ganglia area is responsible for organizing movement commands from higher parts of the brain. They need dopamine to function efficiently.

These disabilities combine to produce a number of specific characteristics in a patient with Parkinson`s which make up the disease also known as paralysis agitarus. The full picture of the disease includes the typical hand tremor, a stooped posture, difficulty both in starting to walk and in stopping, small handwriting, and soft speech.

Characteristics of parkinsonism

Tremor. The most unique and obvious sign of parkinsonism is the hand tremor, often described as "pill rolling". It looks as if the patient is turning a golf ball around and around in one hand, with a frequency of four to five movements per second. This movement happens only at rest, and disappears as soon as the hand has anything else to do. Hence, it is called a resting tremor.

Bradykinesia (slowed movements). Every movement of these patients is slowed down. The word bradykinesia means simply slowed movements.

Rigidity. Rather than being weak, muscles actually retain their strength, but are unable to relax normally. The resulting muscle spasm further slows movement. Parkinson patients display a unique sort of spasm in that it gives way with jerks, earning it the description of cogwheel rigidity.

Postural instability. Maintaining posture requires rapid adjustments in response to changing forces on the body, adjustments that are not possible due to the slowed movement and stiffened muscles of parkinsonism.

The disease is mostly annoyance and embarrassment for these patient because their life are not same like before. However, this disease has a cure and the patient must go to see the doctor to get for more information. Last but not least, this disease are not very dangerous like canser but still have to get treatment as it may cause the patient unable to move more like before.