A week ago, Ashley had met her boyfriend, Jayden’s, mom, Cathy, for the first time. They went to breakfast and then went shopping. While they were shopping, Ashley learned something very personal about Jayden’s mom, she had Parkinson’s disease. Cathy was pushing the shopping cart and Jayden and Ashley were walking behind her and the next thing Ashley knew, Cathy had stopped and told Jayden to push the cart for a while. Cathy just stood there, hands shaking, and then she clenched her hands, like she was cold. At first, Ashley did not know what was going on or what she should do, or if she should do anything at all.
Ashley has heard about Parkinson’s disease before, but she has never actually known somebody who had Parkinson’s disease. Now knowing that Jayden’s mom has Parkinson’s disease, it scared Ashley because she recently watched a true movie on this girl who got the Parkinson’s disease and there was no cure for it. She had to live with the disease forever, and the disease gets worse over time. One shakes uncontrollably, stutter, and if it gets worse, one might not be able to walk and has to live with it, until death.
Most people that have Parkinson’s disease end up with a loved one physically taking care of them for a long time, until they cannot take it anymore or until the person dies. Ashley did not hear about people having Parkinson’s was common, so she never believed for it to be common. But her views were changing by what she saw when she first met Jayden’s mom. No one on her mom’s side of the family or her dad’s side ever had Parkinson’s and now that she knew that Jayden’s mom has it, it worried her much.
Thinking Jayden could get it and if he does, if they have kids, the kids have a chance to get it, too. At first she thought there was a cure for Parkinson’s but now knows that there is no cure for Parkinson’s, and that scares her the most. Having to deal and cope with having Parkinson’s disease or dealing with someone who has Parkinson’s disease is not an easy task or life to have to live. Parkinson’s disease is a disease that could take over one’s life and the life of loved ones. One shakes, has tremors uncontrollably and one has to live with it forever.
This is very important to Ashley, because no matter what, her boyfriend’s mom will always be in her life, and Jayden needs his mom. To see how having Parkinson’s disease can affect the person and their loved ones makes oneself want the opportunity to learn about the disease’s causes, ways to prevent it, and cures. Idiopathic Parkinson’s is first because idiopathic is the primary kind of Parkinson’s. Idiopathic Parkinson’s disease is a multisystem of the human nervous system with results and a treatment that extends far from the system.
In the article, “On the Origin of Tremor in Parkinson’s Disease”, Andrey Dovzhenok and Leonid L. Rubchinsky explains, “The existing data converge on the basal ganglia- thalamo- cortical loop as a tremor generator and consider a conductive- based model of subthalamo- pallidal circuits embedded into a simplified representation of the basal ganglia- thalamo- cortical circuit to investigate the dynamics of this loop”. Tremor is one of the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. The origin of the tremor in Parkinson’s disease remains unknown.
According to the article, “On the Origin of Tremor in Parkinson’s Disease”, Andrey Dovzhenok and Leonid L. Rubchinsky helps people to understand how, “Variation of the strength of dopamine- modulated connections in the basal ganglia- thalamo- cortical loop leads to occurrence of tremor- like burst firing”. While learning the origin of a disease, it helps one to understand how to prevent the worsening of Parkinson’s disease. There are many ways to be preventive and prevent Idiopathic Parkinson’s. To try to prevent Parkinson’s disease, one would have to know a little about its history.
In the article, “Nutraceuticals and Their Preventive or Potential Therapeutic Value In Parkinson’s disease”, Jianfei Chao, et al, explains, “Current treatment methods, such as L- dopa therapy, are focused only on relieving symptoms and delaying progression of the disease”. Parkinson’s disease affects 0. 017 percent of people between ages of fifty and fifty- nine years. The numbers of men who have Parkinson’s disease are one point five times higher than that of women. Parkinson’s disease was first found two centuries ago and a cure has not been found yet.
According to the article, “How Ballet Can Ease the Pain of Parkinson’s”, Tessa Dunlop helps people to understand how, “Experts now believe dance could hold the key to combating symptoms. Having Parkinson’s made me feel as if I could no longer trust my body, says Pat, retired social worker who lives in East London with husband Jeff, seventy”. Pat Crawford enjoys resting and cup of tea after a Nutcracker themed dance session at the English National Ballet. She is seventy years old and has lived with Parkinson’s disease for more than 10 years of her life.
Experts believe dance could help with the symptoms of the disease by keeping the body moving which helps when a person shakes uncontrollably. Treatment for this is highly difficult to find. Some say there are treatments but not all work for everybody. Some origins and preventive ways help find treatment for Parkinson’s disease. In the article, “Surgeons Fight Parkinson’s with Wires Deep in Brain”, Sophie Goodchild explains, “London doctors are conducting the world’s first clinical trials of a pioneering ‘deep brain stimulation’ treatment that could ease the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease”.
London doctors are forming the world’s first trials of “deep brain stimulation” treatment that could ease the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Neurosurgeons will put mini- pacemakers into one to grab areas of the brain affected by the disease. According to the article, “New Movement in Parkinson’s”, helps people to understand how, “Parkinson’s disease, first described in the early 1800s by British physician James Parkinson as ‘shaking palsy,’ is among the most prevalent neurological disorders”. In many Parkinson’s cases, the damage is seen in examinations as groups of proteins in the system.
There is a protein called alpha- synuclein in Italian and Greek families with an inherited form of Parkinson’s. The category Hereditary is second because it is Parkinson’s secondary type of Parkinson’s. How Parkinson’s disease is inherited is unclear. The majority of people who are diagnosed with Parkinson’s have no family history of the disease. Only in rare cases does Parkinson’s disease run in families. In the article, “On the Origin of Tremor in Parkinson’s Disease”, Andrey Dovzhenok and Leonid L.
Rubchinsky explains, “These tremor- like oscillations are suppressed when the connections are modulated back to represent a higher dopamine level as well as when the basal ganglia- thalamo- cortical loop is broken”. The existing data explains how origin is a major factor to the disease. It helps people understand how tremor affects people and the bodies. “The proposed model provides an explanation for the basal ganglia- thalamo- cortical loop mechanism of tremor generation. The strengthening of the loop leads to tremor oscillations, while the weakening or disconnection of the loop suppresses them” (Dovzhenok and Rubchinsky).
Certain genes that contain changes have been found in Parkinson’s patients who have a family history of the disease, then are believed to make a patient more affected to acquiring Parkinson’s disease. In achieving to see how Parkinson’s can be hereditary, the family can only go through procedures that help the symptoms from attaining to worse. Everyone tries their hardest to prevent getting this disease, but one just has to hope for the best. Inheriting Parkinson’s has less of a chance to be able to prevent it from coming, and then it would be from someone just having it on their own.
“Moreover, numerous nutraceuticals have been found to target and attenuate these risk factors, thereby preventing or delaying the progression on Parkinson’s disease” (Chao, et al 1). Parkinson’s disease is the second most prevalent aging- related disorder. Clinical symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are occurrence of tremors and dementia. In the article, “How Ballet Can Ease the Pain of Parkinson’s”, Tessa Dunlop explains, “Ballet is especially useful as it has been shown to help correct balance issues and combat a fear of falling over, which is common among those with Parkinson’s”.
The class has been a relief for the victims for all who suffer from the disease that affects movement. Dancing and keeping one’s body move helps with the stiffening of the body and helps with the tremors too. There is no known cure for Parkinson’s disease. The goal of treatment is to control symptoms. According to the article, “Surgeons Fight Parkinson’s with Wires Deep in Brain”, Sophie Goodchild helps people to understand how, “Neurosurgeons at Imperial College Healthcare will use mini- pacemakers to stimulate areas of the brain affected by the crippling condition”.
The electric sign repeats dopamine, the chemical which allows messages to be sent to parts of the brain that makes movement. Parkinson’s kills cells that produce the chemical. “Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative illnesses common in the elderly are on their way to overtaking cancer as a leading cause of death. But the disease is not entirely one of the aged: fifty percent of patients acquire it after age sixty; the other half are affected before then” (Lozano 2). Parkinson’s disease is the most common disorders. In the United Nations, at least four million people worldwide have it.
No researchers have found a way to slow, stop or prevent Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s plus syndrome is last because it is part of idiopathic and hereditary put together plus more. Parkinson plus syndromes are a group of diseases displaying the features of Parkinson’s disease with additional features that determines them from simple idiopathic Parkinson’s disease. “The electric signal replicates dopamine, the chemical which allows messages to be sent to parts of the brain that co- ordinate movement- Parkinson’s kills cells that produce the chemical” (Goodchild 1).
There are parts of the body that when a disease takes over, it sends the disease all over without stopping. The bodies have all kinds of chemicals that try to fight off diseases but sometimes do not always work. In the article, “New Movement in Parkinson’s”, Andres M. Lozano explains, “Furthermore, better diagnosis has made experts increasingly aware that the disorder can attack those younger then 40”. Most cases, Parkinson’s disease goes to men and very little women. The starting age for Parkinson’s is 35 and above in most people who acquire it.
Parkinson’s plus- syndrome has different symptoms and ways to prevent this part of Parkinson’s then the Idiopathic and Hereditary Parkinson’s. Synthetic forms of L-dopa, have become the accepted way to control the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease today but one of the problems of using synthetic L-dopa is that it loses its effectiveness over time. According to the article, “Nutraceuticals and their preventive or potential therapeutic value in Parkinson’s disease”, Jianfei Chao, etal, helps people to understand how, “To date, there is no known cure for Parkinson’s disease, making prevention of Parkinson’s disease as important as ever.
More than a decade of research has revealed a number of major risk factors”. Bundles of researchers work every day looking for a cure to cure all the victims of this disease. Many have not found a treatment yet, but also are not giving up finding one. “Pat Crawford is enjoying a well-earned rest and cup of tea after a one-and-a-half-hour Nutcracker themed dance session at the home of English National Ballet. Aged seventy, and having lived with Parkinson’s disease for more than a decade” (Dunlop 1). Dancing is known to make the symptoms more deal able to live with Parkinson’s.
It helps with the slowness, stiffness, poor balance and shaking of the hands, arms, legs and lips or jaw. The Parkinson-plus syndromes are usually more rapidly progressive and less likely to respond to anti-parkinsonian medication than Parkinson’s disease. However, the additional features of the diseases may respond to medications not used in Parkinson’s disease. “The loop origin of Parkinsonian tremor also suggests that new tremor- suppression therapies may have anatomical targets in different cortical and subcortical areas as long as they are within the basal ganglia- thalamo- cortical loop” (Dovzhenok, Rubchinsky 1).
Many people think they know about the origin of the disease, but they do not know all. To know all one would have to experience it in real life or have a loved one go through it. In the article, “Surgeons Fight Parkinson’s with Wires Deep in Brain”, Sophie Goodchild helps people to understand how, “Pilot studies have shown the procedure can relieve common symptoms of advanced Parkinson’s such as falling over. Surgeons at Imperial will start trials next month on a new treatment which targets a deeper part of the brain than ever before”. Current therapy for Parkinson-plus syndromes is centered on a treatment of symptoms.
Knowing about the origin of the disease, preventive ways, and treatment makes a better understanding of Parkinson’s disease. Most people think having Parkinson’s disease is rare and very uncommon. Some think they will not acquire it but everybody thinks in their life time that they will not acquire this or that, but ends up with something that takes one’s life from oneself and ones loved ones. There are a lot of people who think having Parkinson’s disease is no big deal because they think there is a cure, but there is no cure. One has to deal with having Parkinson’s disease for one’s whole life until death.
Ashley had just met Jayden’s mom and did not know her very well, but when she was standing shaking uncontrollably and saw the look on her face, it was like she knew her, her whole life and the lives were falling. Parkinson’s disease is life taking disorder that controls one’s life. One can only live life to the fullest and try their best to do everything they can do. Family members have to live with seeing their loved one go through this and they start to feel what they feel. The kids never have their same parents again and lose some of their lives too. Researchers are working on treatments and cures but no luck so far.
When finding out that one or a loved one has a disease, the family or a close partner needs to and wants to know about the reasons for attaining the disease, the preventive ways to prevent the disease, and the cures or treatment of the disease so they have an idea about the disease to be able to be by the loved one side all the way until the end. Works Cited Chao, Jianfei, et al. “Nutraceuticals and Their Preventive or Potential Therapeutic Value In Parkinson’s Disease. ” Nutraceuticals and their preventive or potential therapeutic value in Parkinson’s disease. Nutrition Reviews April 2011 7th ser. 70 (n. d. ): 373-386.
Academic Dovzhenok, Andrey and Leonid L. Rubchinsky. “On the Origin of Tremor in Parkinson’s Disease. ” On the Origin of Tremor in Parkinson’s Disease. 7. 7 (2012): n. page. Web. 26 October 2012. Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 26 October 2012. Dunlop, Tessa. “How Ballet Can Ease the Pain of Parkinson’s. ” How Ballet Can Ease the Pain of Parkinson’s. 18 December 2011:25. Print. Goodchild, Sophie. “Surgeons Fight Parkinson’s with Wires Deep in Brain. ” Surgeons Fight Parkinson’s with Wires Deep in Brain. 7 August 2009:22. Print. Lozano, Andres M. “New Movement in Parkinson’s. ” New Movement in Parkinson’s July 2010: 68-75. Web. 23 Oct. 2012.