It is normal that a person, especially the one who had advanced Parkinson’s, may take medication to treat the disease. In that case, as a side-effect, a person may suffer from dyskinesias, a condition characterized by “involuntary, irregular, twisting or writhing movements occurring when a dose of levodopa (the popular medicine for Parkinson) is at its highest levels in the brain” (John Hopkins Medicine 2004). The person will also suffer from what is called as “restless legs” syndrome. Individual who suffer from this, reports that they experience itchiness, tugging, and creepy sensations deep within their legs causing them to move their legs.
Restlessness is much stronger at night or when they are at rest (John Hopkins Medicine 2004). Sometimes there are wrong diagnosis for the real cause of motor skills dysfunction (it may not be Parkinson’s); but just the same, treatment is usually done through therapy. B. Cognitive Impairment The loss of normal use of cognitive ability is also a daily problem for 75 % of people with Parkinson’s. This cognitive impairment is called dementia (which may eventually develop into Alzheimer’s disease) characterized by a episodic loss of memory, visual and spatial dysfunction as well as the inability to communicate fluently.
This means that the person may forget to remember people or events, may suffer disorientation and have slow comprehension. In addition, the intake of medication may worsen the damage to the normal cognitive function (John Hopkins Medicine 2004; Belmonte 2008). C. Autonomic Impairment Person’s suffering from Parkinson’s will also have to face a daily battle on their inability to perform autonomic functions. The first example would be the constipation and urination dysfunction. It is of course normal that as a person ages, he will have problems with his bowel movement but the person with Parkinson’s will suffer more from it.
This is because, aside from the person’s inability to move frequently (which hampers movement within his body), the activity to transfer food through the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is slowed also down. That is why , to prevent constipation and possible obstruction , the person is encourage to move regularly, eat food rich in fiber and to drink plenty of water or other fluids. If needed it is also recommended that he take laxatives. Regarding urinary problems, the person may be find himself urinating in the most unlikely places because he, due to his inability to move fast, he may not be able to reach the bathroom in time.
Moreover, the patient may also be unable to fully empty his bladder when he urinates so that incontinence may become his problem (John Hopkins Medicine 2004). One of the great concerns for the person’s with Parkinson’s, and their respective partners, is that they may have difficulty in performing sexual functions. This is largely due to their difficulty in movement and achieving and maintaining erection. Moreover, the problem is compounded when they are excited for when that happens, their tremors greatly increases which of course ruins the romantic mood (John Hopkins Medicine 2004).
Problems is also an ever present daily problem for people with Parkinson’s. In fact, 40 to 50% of patients identify depression as their very common symptom. Although it could be that depression is the result of an emotional reaction for acquiring such a kind of a disease; depression can also serves as an indication that something is wrong in the brain. Moreover, depression can be worsened with the chemical imbalance due to sleeplessness that the patient experiences as well as due to medication ( John Hopkins Medicine 2004).