Parkinson's Diagnosis

By the time someone shows signs and symptoms of Parkinson 's, Dopamine production in the brain has been reduced by 60 to 80% and is fairly advanced. This results in the most recognizable sign of Parkinson 's disease, the resting tremor of the hand or hands. During deliberate movement, the resting tremor goes away, at first. At rest, the tremor will become exacerbated,

Parkinson disease (PD) is one of the most common neurologic disorders. and it affects approximately 1% of individuals older than 60 years old. Parkinson’s disease is a condition that progresses slowly by treatment. In addition, loss of pigmented dopaminergic neurons of the substantianigra pars compacta and the presence of Lewy bodies and Lewyneurites are the two major neuropathologic findings in Parkinson disease (Hauser, 2016).

The patient is a 99-year-old female who presents from the Daughters of Miriam after sustaining a fall the morning of presentation. The patient states she was trying to get out of bed which is very difficult for her due to her Parkinson's disease the next thing she knows she was falling. She denies any trauma to her head, back, her hips. She denies any lightheadedness, dizziness or chest tightness. Her medical history is significant for hypertension and chronic atrial fibrillation for which she is on anticoagulation, coronary artery disease, history of bilateral breast cancer and Parkinson's disease. The neurologic exam reveals that she has a tremor in the upper extremities and she has rigidity. The neurologic evaluation is increasing

There is no definitive test that can diagnose Parkinson’s disease (PD). Diagnoses by physicians are usually made by looking at a patient’s medical history, observing for particular signs, and performing a comprehensive neurological exam. It can be difficult, however, as the principal symptoms of PD can be similar to those caused by certain medications or other degenerative brain

Many people around the world today suffer from Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders. A movement disorder is a disorder impairing the speed, fluency, quality, and ease of movement. There are many types of movement disorders such as impaired fluency and speed of movement (dyskinesia), excessive movements (hyperkinesia), and slurred movements (hypokinesia). Some types of movement disorders are ataxia, a lack of coordination, Huntington's disease, multiple system atrophies, myoclonus, brief, rapid outbursts of movement, progressive supranuclear palsy, restless legs syndrome, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, tics, Tourette's syndrome, tremor, Wilson disease, dystonia, which causes involuntary body movement, and Parkinson's disease. Parkinson’s disease, Tourette’s syndrome, and tics are one of the most widely known of these disorders, known to impair people of movements and rob them of their lives.

According to a study by Murdock, Cousins, and Kernohan, these four major signs make Parkinson disease more and more crippling and life-threatening: resting tremors, Rigidity, Bradykinesia, and Postural instability. 1st sign are Resting tremors. Resting tremors are seen as the shaking of the limb, even when the person is at rest. Often, the tremor affects only the hand or fingers and the tremors can trigger during any type of movement of an affected body part. In the early stages of the disease, about 70 % of people experience a slight tremor in the hand or foot on one side of the body, or less commonly in the jaw or face. The 2nd sign is Rigidity, which causes stiffness and inflexibility of the limbs, neck and trunk. Muscles normally stretch when they move, and then relax when they are at rest. In

Stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED) consist of multipotent stem cells that could differentiate into various types of cells, including DAergic neuron-like cells. A study shows that SHED could be applied for neurodegenerative disease treatments, namely Parkinson's disease (PD) transplantation therapy. PD leads to malfunction of neurons in substantia nigra in the brain resulting in a lower level of production of dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter responsible for signal delivery. Insufficient dopamine has an adverse effect on controlling

Doctors who diagnose Parkinson start by performing a physical examination on the patient followed by a detailed discussion of the symptoms and past medical history. During the physical exam the doctor test their reflexes, sensitivity to pain or pressure and agility.(Parkinson:

These however are very inconclusive results due to their non-invasive nature. There are also more accurate measures such as detailed autonomic testing, cardiac MIBG-scintigraphy, transcranial ultrasound, and dopaminergic functional imaging may be useful for those at high risk, but consequently more invasive. and according to author of Predicting Parkinson's disease - why, when, and how?, Postuma RB and Montplaisir J, “Despite intriguing leads, direct testing of preclinical markers has been limited, mainly because there is no reliable way to identify preclinical disease.” Many concerns of the pre-diagnosis are placed on the statistics: and much of the results show that though pre-diagnosis are accurate, but not accurate enough according to many critics; this can be a major setback, because of the serious symptoms of PK. PK is the top 17 cause of death in America and symptoms include bradykinesia, resting tremor, and postural

The symptoms and signs of Parkinson’s disease vary from person to person and vary in severity. The most common first sign is a tremor-or shaking- in the limbs especially in the hands or fingers. This is often followed bradykinesia-or slowed movement-which can make previously simple tasks difficult and time-consuming as well as frustrating. This can be shown by shorter steps or dragging feet while walking or difficulty getting out of chairs. There can also be rigid muscle movements, limiting your movement and causing you pain; loss of automatic movements such at blinking can also occur. “Parkinson’s disease is often accompanied by these additional problems, which may be treatable.” (mayoclinic.org/disease-conditions) These problems include thinking difficulties, emotional changes,

The most frequent neurodegenerative movement disorder today is Parkinson Disease (Barth et al., 2011), with a prevalence which increases with age – from 0.01% of people in the age group 40 to 44 years, increasing steadily to approximately 1% at age 65 and 22% at age 85 or over. Due to an aging society, increasing industrialization and environmental factors, the number of patients will grow rapidly in the forthcoming decades.

Parkinson’s disease is difficult to diagnose and many have been misdiagnosed as well. A neurologist who specializes in movement disorders would be the most adept person in making a correct diagnosis through many evaluation techniques. Some techniques to diagnose Parkinson’s include physical examinations, verbal surveys indicating any new medications or environmental exposures and various mental tests. (Clark, 2007)

Parkinson disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease with unknown etiology. PD is commonly referred to as a “motor disease,” reflecting its clinical symptoms, including resting tremors of extremities, muscular rigidity, shuffling gait, stoop posture, and bradykinesia (1). The underlying pathology of PD is progressive neuronal loss, particularly in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc), and the presence of abnormal protein- rich aggregates—known as Lewy bodies— in the remaining

Other cognitive conditions: Amnesia and delirium. This can affect interaction and communication as cognitive conditions can cause disorientation, misinterpretation of information, variations in lucidity, the loss of speech, memory loss and the ability to recall information/memories.

In definition, Friedman (2010) states that Parkinson's disease is a progressive disorder of the nervous system symptomized with tremor, slow and muscular rigidity which is common in elderly people. The researcher ex plains that the disease occurs as a result of the malfunctioning of neurons which are vital nerve cells found in the brain. Parkinson's disease basically affects substantia nigra which are neurons in the brain. When substantia nigra die they produce dopamine. The chemical dopamine is responsible for controlling coordinating and locomotion of human beings. As Parkinson’s disease progresses, the brain produces less dopamine and leaves a person not able to coordinate and control movement normally. It is therefore substantive to claim