How is Parkinson’s disease treated?

  Parkinson’s disease is a disease of the central nervous system characterized by muscle tremors, rigidity, difficulty starting motor activities, and loss of postural reflexes, mostly in middle-aged and elderly people. It is currently referred to as primary Parkinson’s disease (Parkinson’s disease, tremor palsy) for those whose cause is unknown. Similar clinical manifestations arising from encephalitis, cerebral atherosclerosis, traumatic brain injury and poisoning are called secondary Parkinson’s syndrome (symptomatic Parkinson’s syndrome, Parkinson’s syndrome). All Parkinson’s diseases (PD) have the following common features: they start insidiously and worsen continuously; tremor is most pronounced at rest; limb stiffness, causing reduced movement and gradual loss of normal work and life; facial expression changes, manifesting as mask-like face, unable to express emotional response; slow speech, low voice pitch and monotone tone; salivation; prone bent posture of the trunk, not easy to maintain upright posture; oil spillage leading to skin with a tendency to seborrheic dermatitis.  The incidence and prevalence of PD increases with age. the age of onset of PD is about 20/100,000 for 0-39 years old and about 1100/100,000 for 70-79 years old. it is more common in 50-65 years old and very rare in young people. The ratio of men to women is close to 1 or slightly higher in men than in women.  The etiology of PD is currently thought to be related to environmental factors, genetic factors and aging factors, but the molecular pathological mechanism of the interaction of the three is still not well understood and needs further study.  PD itself is not a fatal disease and generally does not affect life expectancy; however, if patients do not receive timely and reasonable treatment, it can easily lead to the decline of physical functions and even the inability to take care of themselves, and finally various complications, such as pneumonia, urinary tract infection and fracture, which can seriously affect the quality of life of patients. For primary Parkinson’s disease, taking levodopa has good efficacy, but drug efficacy will gradually decline or side effects will occur. For PD patients who have started to affect their normal work and life, we recommend surgery.  Minimally invasive stereotactic surgery for Parkinson’s disease has the advantages of less trauma, faster recovery, and obvious results, and has now become an important treatment for Parkinson’s disease. Deep microelectrode brain stimulation (DBS) is currently a high-end treatment measure, but it is expensive and should only be considered for patients who are financially qualified for this treatment.