Medical and Health Documents

Parkinson’s disease is a common, slowly progressive, neurodegenerative disease. If you want to know What Causes of Parkinson’s Disease?, How is Parkinson’s Disease Diagnosed? or How is Parkinson’s Disease Treated? you can read form this e-book.

Sample

Parkinson’s disease is associated with a gradual loss of cells in the substantia nigra, which produces dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical messenger that transmits a signal between two regions of the brain, the substantia nigra and the corpus striatum to regulate muscle activity. Insufficient dopamine in the striatum causes the nerve cells in this region to “fire” out of control leaving the individual unable to direct or control movements in a normal manner. This is thought to lead to the initial symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Later in the disease, other areas of the brain and nervous system degenerate.

The exact cause for the loss of cells is unknown. Possible causes currently being researched are:

• Genetic predisposition: The inheritance of a gene passed down from a previous generation
• Free radicals are unstable molecules produced during normal chemical reactions in the body. When these molecules interact with other molecules they have the ability to damage a variety of tissue types, including neurons.
• Environmental toxins: This has been seen in people who took an illegal drug contaminated with a chemical called, MPTP. These individuals developed severe Parkinson-like symptoms. This also occurred in the early 1900′s in individuals who had suffered from a severe form of influenza.
• Accelerated aging: As a person ages, there is a normal wearing away of dopamine producing neurons, which leads to the premature loss of dopamine.