Parkinson’s Disease

6 Pages 1565 Words

James Parkinson first described Parkinson’s disease in England in 1817. Parkinson wrote a description of six patients suffering from a slowly progressing disease characterized by “involuntary tremulous motion, which lessened muscular power in parts not in action even when supported, with a propensity to bend their trunks forward from a walking to a running pace” (Health & Illness, 1995). The disease he named shaking palsy is known as parkinsonism (Parkinson’s disease) in his honor. Parkinsonism, also called paralysis agitans, is defined as a disorder of the brain characterized by shaking and difficulty with walking, movement, and coordination. The disease is associated with damage to part of the brain that controls muscle movement. The term “parkinsonism” refers to any condition that involves a combination of the types of changes in movement seen in Parkinson’s disease, which happens to be the most common condition causing this group of symptoms. Parkinsonism may be caused by ! other disorders or by external factors (secondary parkinsonism). (Yahoo.Health). These symptoms include adverse reactions to prescribed medication, carbon monoxide poisoning, stroke, head injury, and brain tumors. In Parkinson’s disease dopamine, which is important for transporting signals from one cell to another within your brain is lost. Resulting in impairment of walking, arm movement, and facial expressions. Parkinson’s disease manifests itself in various manners. These may include 1) only one side of the body, 2) both sides, 3) both sides with mild postural imbalance, 4) both sides with critical postural instability and 5) severe and fully developed disease so that you may be restricted to a bed or chair (Family Health Book, 1990). When present, it appears to be due to decreased sensitivity of the nerves (post-synaptic) to dopamine rather than deterioration of the area of the brain that produces dopamine. In Parkinson’s disease, for reas...