Understanding Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease is a condition that affects the central nervous system and movement. This condition is progressive, meaning the symptoms worsen with time. Parkinson’s disease is caused by damage to the neurons that produce an excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain called dopamine. Having lower amounts of dopamine in your brain affects how your brain functions.

Exposure to environmental toxins like those found in pesticides and herbicides increases the risk of Parkinson’s disease. For specialists of Parkinson’s disease in Alexandria, dizziness, involuntary tremors, and muscular rigidity are a few of the symptoms noted. These symptoms worsen with time. There is no permanent cure for Parkinson’s disease but when you visit a doctor, they will prescribe the best treatment for you to suppress the symptoms and improve your quality of life.

How Does Parkinson’s Disease Present?

Different people with Parkinson’s develop different symptoms of the condition. In the early stages of Parkinson’s, the symptoms are mild and sometimes you may not even notice them. The early symptoms affect one side of the body, but as the condition progresses, these symptoms spread to both sides of the body.

 One of the most common symptoms of Parkinson’s is involuntary tremors that affect the hands and fingers. A distinctive characteristic of these tremors is that they move back and forth from your thumb to the forefinger. Due to this feature, the tremors have gained the name “pill-rolling” tremors. Slowing of movement, or bradykinesia, is another symptom of Parkinson’s that develops gradually.

Bradykinesia makes you spend a lot of time doing simple tasks like walking or even standing up. Parkinson’s also presents with muscle rigidity that reduces your range of movement and difficulty in maintaining balance and posture. Parkinson’s can also make you unable to do automatic activities like blinking and swinging your arms.

Speech changes also occur in Parkinson’s like hesitating as you speak, or talking softer and quicker than you normally do. You may also develop a monotone speech that lacks normal inflections. Slurring of speech may also occur. The inability to write is another symptom of Parkinson’s disease.

What Are the complications of Parkinson’s Disease?

Loss of memory and difficulty in thinking are some of the complications that you can get due to Parkinson’s. If the muscles in your mouth are affected, you may have challenges in chewing food. You may also have a hard time swallowing food, and this causes saliva to collect in your mouth, making you drool.

The rapid movement of the eye muscles may make you develop sleeping problems. These symptoms can make you get depression or develop other psychological problems like fear and anxiety. Constipation, urinary incontinence, sexual dysfunction, orthostatic hypotension, chronic pain, and fatigue are other complications that you can develop due to Parkinson’s disease.

In summary, Parkinson’s disease is a neurological condition that occurs when you have low amounts of dopamine in your brain. The condition presents with involuntary tremors that commonly occur in the hands and fingers. Slowing of movement, the rigidity of the muscles, speech changes, and difficulty in maintaining balance can also occur due to Parkinson’s. During the late stages of Parkinson’s, you may get complications like loss of memory, sleeping problems, swallowing and chewing problems, and sexual dysfunction.