What is Parkinson’s disease?
Parkinson’s disease is caused by a lesion in a small area of the brain that happens to control a person’s sense of balance in movement. This area, called the substantia nigra, contains brain cells that secrete dopamine, which sends messages to areas of the brain that control muscle tissue. If there is a problem with the substantia nigra, the normal amount of dopamine cannot be secreted, so the channel of communication from the brain to the muscle tissue is blocked, resulting in symptoms such as body tremors, stiffness in the limbs, and slowness of movement.
Common clinical manifestations of Parkinson’s disease
Parkinson’s disease varies from person to person. At first, only one side of the body may be affected, but soon, both sides of the body may become affected. Generally, the condition changes over time, with different symptoms appearing at different times and the condition becoming more severe. Usually, memory and sanity are not affected in people with Parkinson’s disease. The most common symptoms are as follows.
Tremor (shaking): The most common symptom of Parkinson’s disease, it is often the earliest manifestation of the disease. The arms will shake involuntarily, either unilaterally or bilaterally, typically with movements of the fingers as if they were rolling pills or counting bills.
Stiffness or muscle spasms in the limbs: Patients with Parkinson’s disease have relaxation messages from the brain that are not communicated to the muscle tissue and become muscle stiff and can cause muscle pain or inability to straighten the body.
Motor retardation: In the early stages, the person is unable to perform fine movements such as untying and tying shoelaces and buttoning buttons. Unable to take steps when walking, but advances in small steps and cannot stop in time, i.e. “panic gait”. Reduced or absent swaying of arms while walking; difficulty in turning around, having to use several consecutive small broken steps to turn around. Difficulty in writing, bent handwriting, smaller and smaller handwriting, medically known as “small writing disorder”. Blinking, reduced facial muscle movement, and dull expression, as if wearing a mask, is known as “mask face” in medical science. In the advanced stage of the disease, the patient cannot stand on his own after sitting down, cannot turn over on his own after being bedridden, and cannot take care of himself in daily life.
Other symptoms: abnormally slow speech, reduced speech, and low, monotonous voice. The inability to swallow saliva naturally leads to a lot of salivation. In severe cases, this can lead to choking and coughing when eating and drinking. Constipation is also a common symptom in Parkinson’s patients.
Treatment of Parkinson’s disease
Medications: Medications can prevent the exacerbation of Parkinson’s disease and improve the quality of life and ability to perform daily activities. The doctor will decide which medications to put the patient on based on the patient’s age and symptoms of the condition. Commonly used are levodopa complexes, dopamine agonists, anticholinergic drugs, etc.
Surgery: When Parkinson’s disease is too severe to be treated with medication, open surgery may be considered. However, surgery cannot cure Parkinson’s disease, but can only reduce the condition, such as tremors or stiffness of the limbs.
Other treatments: such as deep brain stimulation, etc.
Dietary principles for patients with Parkinson’s disease
Variety of foods and pleasant meals: include cereals, vegetables and fruits, dairy or legumes, meat, etc.
Eat more cereals and vegetables and fruits: usually eat 300 to 500 grams of cereals, such as rice, noodles, and mixed grains, etc., every day. Eat about 300 grams of vegetables or melons per day, 1 to 2 medium-sized fruits.
Often eat milk and beans in moderation: milk is rich in calcium, drink 1 cup of milk or yogurt every day at night before bed. Eat more soy products such as tofu and dried tofu as well as fava beans (especially fava bean pods).
Eat meat in limited quantities: consume about 50 grams of meat per day, choosing lean animal, poultry or fish. 1 egg contains the equivalent of 25 grams of lean meat in protein. To make it more effective during the day, try to schedule protein-rich foods for dinner only throughout the day.
Try to avoid fatty meats, fatty oils and animal offal: this helps to prevent the adverse effects on the body caused by excessive intake of saturated fats and cholesterol. Excessive fat in the diet can also delay the absorption of levodopa medication and affect its effectiveness.
Drink 6 to 8 glasses of water and beverages daily.
Eat half an hour after taking the medication: It is common to take levodopa medication half an hour before eating a meal so that the medication can be better absorbed. You can eat low protein foods such as cookies, fruit or juice while taking the medication. Drinking ginger juice also has the effect of relieving nausea and vomiting. In addition, some patients will have increased symptoms of involuntary movements after taking the medication, so they can take the medication with meals to reduce the symptoms by delaying the absorption of the medication.
Individualized dietary treatment: Because patients’ conditions, physical tolerance and medication vary, dietary treatment needs to be individualized and adjusted accordingly to changing conditions. If the patient also suffers from other diseases, the special dietary requirements of these diseases should be taken into account.