What is Parkinson’s disease?

Many patients know about Parkinson’s disease only from the TV media, and they do not know much about the nature, course, performance and prognosis of the disease, which is not conducive to the treatment and recovery of the disease, therefore, we should actively carry out public education on Parkinson’s disease and guide patients to understand the disease itself. Parkinson’s disease is a degenerative disease of the central nervous system that occurs in middle-aged and elderly people over 50 years of age and is characterized by resting tremor, bradykinesia, myotonia, and abnormal posture and gait. Its etiology and pathogenesis are not fully understood, and it is considered to be related to genetic, environmental, and aging factors. Currently, there is no treatment that can stop or reverse the neurodegenerative pathophysiologic process of Parkinson’s disease, and its treatment is mainly to reduce symptoms, alleviate the process, and improve the quality of life. The treatment is mainly based on drugs, and there are anticholinergic drugs (mainly Antan), dopaminergic drugs (mainly Methyldopa), dopamine agonists, monoamine oxidase inhibitors and so on. Surgery, cell transplantation and gene therapy are also available, but they are not the preferred therapies and are not yet widely used in clinical practice. The disease itself is not life-threatening, with a mortality rate almost equal to that of its non-Parkinsonian peers, and deaths are often the direct result of complications such as pneumonia and fractures. Guohua Hu, Department of Neurology, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Jilin, China