According to statistics, every hundredth inhabitant of the planet suffers from Parkinson's disease. This disease overtakes a person who has reached the age of 60, often resulting in death. But it can be stopped! How to cure Parkinson's disease? What are the symptoms of parkinsonism? How to save yourself from trembling paralysis? Read more about it.
How does parkinsonism overtake a person?
Parkinson's disease – it is the gradual death of motor nerve cells. Subsequently, the level of dopamine in the blood decreases significantly, which acts as a neurotransmitter and precedes adrenaline. This causes a violation of the regulation of movements and muscle tone, which manifests itself in a characteristic tremor (trembling), stiffness, impaired posture and coordination of movements. Parkinsonism often causes a number of other diseases that can lead to death.
The cause of this disease is atherosclerosis of cerebral vessels, encephalitis, taking excessive amounts of medications and poisoning with neurotoxic substances.
Symptoms of Parkinson's disease
The hallmark of parkinsonism is trembling in the hands, which eventually spreads throughout the body, and muscle stiffness. Loss of coordination of movements over time deprives the patient of the ability to walk.
In the initial stage of the disease, you can notice that the patient's face loses facial expressions. A person blinks less often and his face loses its emotional color, becoming like a mask. His posture also changes. The back becomes slightly stooped and slightly tilted forward. Light trembling of the hands and fingers intensifies over time and spreads throughout the body. The patient has difficulty brushing his teeth or shaving. There are also difficulties with the swallowing function, which works much less frequently in parkinsonism. The result is profuse salivation, so patients have to always have a handkerchief or towel on hand.
It is remarkable that the body, having difficulty with slow movements, copes well with fast ones. It is much easier for the patient to move quickly than ever before. Rapid movements become involuntary, often the patient does not notice their speed. So going up and down stairs quickly, running, cycling and dancing become an easy task, unlike walking or combing your hair.
The result of Parkinson's disease is loss of motor function, while the body does not lose tremor.
Diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson's disease
Parkinsonism is diagnosed at an early stage. When the first symptoms appear, you need to go to an appointment with a neurologist. The doctor will prescribe a diagnosis in the form of electromyography, which will help determine the causes of the tremor. You will also need to make an electroencephalogram, which will establish the zones and causes of brain dysfunction. After that, the doctor will prescribe medication.
In most cases, the patient is prescribed levodopa (lefodopa). But, unfortunately, its use causes a number of side effects. There are also several other drugs that are prescribed in combination with levodopa. Such a course of treatment is not able to completely cure the disease, but only significantly slow down its progress.
At the moment, a search is underway for a more efficient way. In the near future, it is planned to treat Parkinson's disease by surgery. The patient will be implanted with new cells that generate dopamine. Thus parkinsonism will be eliminated.
Add a comment