DEFINTION OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE: a progressive disease of the nervous system marked by tremor, muscular rigidity, and slow, imprecise movement, chiefly affecting middle-aged and elderly people. It is associated with degeneration of the basal ganglia of the brain and a deficiency of the neurotransmitter dopamine.
Parkinson's disease affects the way you move. It happens when there is a problem with certain nerve cells in the brain. Normally, these nerve cells make an important chemical called dopamine. Dopamine sends signals to the part of your brain that controls movement. It lets your muscles move smoothly and do what you want them to do.
Parkinson's disease is traditionally thought of as a condition which only strikes the elderly but young people can be affected too, although the number of cases is relatively few.
The average age for the first sign of symptoms is generally around 60 but it is thought that around five to 10% of people with Parkinson's are under the age of 45. Doctors call this "young onset Parkinson's".
Parkinson's disease can present a bewildering number of symptoms which can also be found in other conditions. It's important that doctors rule out other causes in young people before diagnosing a chronic long term illness.
Generally the disease presents itself as it does in the elderly but young people with Parkinson's will have special concerns. Having to deal with the disease at a much younger age and for far longer means they're likely to be worrying about the future of their jobs, families and social lives. All kinds of difficult adjustments may have to be made.
These worries can lead to the knock on effect of a younger person becoming withdrawn and depressed about what the future holds. An estimated one third of those with young onset Parkinson's disease suffer from depression.
Other ways in which the illness differs in young people is that one of the first symptoms is dystonia – this is when a limb uncontrollably stiffens or draws upwards. Leg or foot dystonia is particularly common affecting about 50% of diagnosed young people.
Tremors, which are one of the first signs of Parkinson's in the elderly, are less common although still troublesome when they occur. Cognitive problems such as memory loss and dementia and loss of balance and co-ordination are also less common in young Parkinson's disease sufferers.
Treatment for young onset Parkinson's is generally the same as for the elderly although young patients are regarded as a better choice for new surgical techniques and medicines because they don't have other age related problems and they have a longer life ahead of them.
The most commonly prescribed medicine is levodopa. This drug has a significant effect on symptoms and results can be seen within days. But in younger people the adverse side effects of the drug are rapid, far more so than in the elderly and can bring about involuntary movements (known as dyskinesia).
DEFINITON OF DYSKINESIA: abnormality or impairment of voluntary movement.
A/N:
ok so somebody asked me what Parkinson's Disease was so here you go
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