The Etiology and Treatment of Parkinson Disease Essay -- Health Aging

Parkinson Disease There exists a group of people who live the final years of their lives in glass boxes. They are perfectly capable of seeing outside, but incapable of reaching out to the world around them. Their emotions can not be shown through facial expression, and as their condition continues, speech also becomes difficult or even impossible. These people are men and women of all races and geographical areas, constituting one percent of the world’s population over 50 years old. Parkinson disease is their affliction. Although Parkinsonism has been around almost as long as recorded history, there is yet to be found a cause or a cure. Medications tame the symptoms and prolong life, but are incapable of reversing the disease progression.. Diagnosis relies exclusively upon clinical signs and symptoms, because almost all laboratory and radiography tests are normal in the Parkinson patient. For this reason early diagnosis is very difficult. The fact that early signs of Parkinsonism can easily be overlooked as normal aging, further complicates diagnosis. Therefore, primary care physicians of the middle-aged and elderly population must be extremely sensitive to patients’ outward appearance and changes in movement ability. Most signs and symptoms of Parkinson disease correspond to one of three motor deficiencies: bradykinesia, akinesia, tremor, and rigidity. The first two qualities are usually present before tremor, but often attributed to aging by the patient and even the physician, and thus the disease is rarely diagnosed until tremor becomes evident much later. An average of 80% of the nigrostriatal neurons may have already degenerated by the time Parkinsonism is diagnosed, which complicates treatment (Fitzgerald, 130). Bra... ...ed. Bailliere Tindall. London: 1985. Kandel, E. R., J. H. Schwarz, and T. M. Jessel. Principles of Neural Science. 3rd ed. Elsevier. New York: 1991. Korczyn, A. D. "Autonomic Nervous System Disturbances in Parkinson’s Disease." Advances in Neurology. Vol. 53, 1990, Pp., 463-468. Langston, J. W. "Current Theories on the Cause of Parkinson’s Disease. " Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry. 1989, suppl. ,pp. 13-i7. Lees, AJ. "The On-Off Phenomenon." Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry. 1989, suppl. ,pp. 29-37. Lieberman, A., "Emerging Perspectives in Parkinson’s Disease." Neurology. April 1992. suppl 4.. Pp. 5-7. Rowland, L. P., ed. Merritt’s Textbook of Neurology. 7th ed. Lea and Febiger. Philadelphia: 1984. Walton, Sir John. Brain’s Diseases of the Nervous System. 9th ed. Oxford University Press. Oxford: 1985. The Etiology and Treatment of Parkinson Disease Essay -- Health Aging Parkinson Disease There exists a group of people who live the final years of their lives in glass boxes. They are perfectly capable of seeing outside, but incapable of reaching out to the world around them. Their emotions can not be shown through facial expression, and as their condition continues, speech also becomes difficult or even impossible. These people are men and women of all races and geographical areas, constituting one percent of the world’s population over 50 years old. Parkinson disease is their affliction. Although Parkinsonism has been around almost as long as recorded history, there is yet to be found a cause or a cure. Medications tame the symptoms and prolong life, but are incapable of reversing the disease progression.. Diagnosis relies exclusively upon clinical signs and symptoms, because almost all laboratory and radiography tests are normal in the Parkinson patient. For this reason early diagnosis is very difficult. The fact that early signs of Parkinsonism can easily be overlooked as normal aging, further complicates diagnosis. Therefore, primary care physicians of the middle-aged and elderly population must be extremely sensitive to patients’ outward appearance and changes in movement ability. Most signs and symptoms of Parkinson disease correspond to one of three motor deficiencies: bradykinesia, akinesia, tremor, and rigidity. The first two qualities are usually present before tremor, but often attributed to aging by the patient and even the physician, and thus the disease is rarely diagnosed until tremor becomes evident much later. An average of 80% of the nigrostriatal neurons may have already degenerated by the time Parkinsonism is diagnosed, which complicates treatment (Fitzgerald, 130). Bra... ...ed. Bailliere Tindall. London: 1985. Kandel, E. R., J. H. Schwarz, and T. M. Jessel. Principles of Neural Science. 3rd ed. Elsevier. New York: 1991. Korczyn, A. D. "Autonomic Nervous System Disturbances in Parkinson’s Disease." Advances in Neurology. Vol. 53, 1990, Pp., 463-468. Langston, J. W. "Current Theories on the Cause of Parkinson’s Disease. " Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry. 1989, suppl. ,pp. 13-i7. Lees, AJ. "The On-Off Phenomenon." Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry. 1989, suppl. ,pp. 29-37. Lieberman, A., "Emerging Perspectives in Parkinson’s Disease." Neurology. April 1992. suppl 4.. Pp. 5-7. Rowland, L. P., ed. Merritt’s Textbook of Neurology. 7th ed. Lea and Febiger. Philadelphia: 1984. Walton, Sir John. Brain’s Diseases of the Nervous System. 9th ed. Oxford University Press. Oxford: 1985.