Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a common degenerative disease of the nervous system, prevalent in the elderly, with an average age of onset of about 60 years, and less common in young adults with PD starting under the age of 40. So, how much do you know about Parkinson’s disease? The following is the knowledge about Parkinson’s disease.
1, what people are prone to this disease?
(1) Elderly people. The incidence of Parkinson’s disease increases with age, and it is very rare to develop Parkinson’s disease before the age of 40, but aging is only a Parkinson’s disease contributing factor.
(2) People with long-term exposure to pesticides, herbicides or certain chemical products.
(3) People with Parkinson’s disease in their immediate family. about 10% of Parkinson’s patients have a family history of the disease. patients who develop the disease before the age of 40 often have a family history.
2.Why do you get this disease?
The cause of the disease is still unknown, and is usually thought to be related to aging, genetics, and exposure to some neurotoxic substances. In the human brain, dopamine and acetylcholine are the two most important neurotransmitters in the striatum (a brain structure), and their functions are antagonistic to each other, maintaining a state of equilibrium in normal people. The dopamine in the striatum is secreted by cells in the substantia nigra. In other words, in Parkinson’s patients, the substantia nigra becomes “white” and a large number of cells are lost, making the secretion of dopamine significantly lower (>80%), resulting in a lower concentration of dopamine in the striatum, which is insufficient to inhibit the action of acetylcholine and eventually leads to the appearance of related symptoms.
3.What are the main manifestations of this disease?
Parkinson’s disease mostly develops after the age of 60, with an insidious onset and slow progression, and has four main clinical manifestations.
(1) Resting tremor: The first symptom is usually a resting “pill-twisting” tremor in one hand. This tremor is most pronounced when the limb is at rest, diminishes when the limb is performing activities, and disappears during sleep; emotional stress or fatigue can make the tremor worse. The tremor is usually most severe in the hands, arms and legs, and the order of symptoms is earliest in the hands and latest in the legs. Tremor can also occur in the jaw, tongue, forehead and eyelids, but vocalization is not affected.
(2) Motor retardation: Movements become slower and slower (slow movements), less and less (too few movements), and more and more difficult to initiate (lack of movements). Fine finger movements become difficult, writing becomes smaller and smaller, etc.
(3) Muscle tonicity: There are two manifestations of leadpipe-like tonicity and gear-like tonicity, the latter being a superposition of tonicity symptoms and tremor. The latter is a superposition of tonicity and tremor. Muscle tonicity combined with too little movement may contribute to muscle soreness and fatigue. The expressionless face, which becomes a mask, with a frequently open mouth and reduced blinking, may cause confusion with depression.
(4) Abnormal posture and gait: head tilted forward when standing, flexion of the drive trunk, bending of the elbow and wrist, and slight bending of the hip and knee joints. The patient finds it difficult to open the gait; the gait is dragging, the gait distance is reduced, or rushing forward or backward, stopping the gait is difficult, and panic gait appears. There is no natural swing of the two upper limbs when walking.
(5) Other symptoms: slow speech, low volume, salivation, sebaceous gland secretion, persistent constipation, and cognitive dysfunction and depression in advanced patients.
4.What tests are needed?
The diagnosis of this disease is mainly based on clinical manifestations, and the ancillary tests are not specific. Functional imaging tests, such as PET or SPECT, can help in the diagnosis of the disease. Cranial CT, MR examination and routine biochemical examination of blood and cerebrospinal fluid have no specific findings, but can make differential diagnosis.
5.Which diseases may be confused with this disease?
(1) Idiopathic tremor: It mostly starts at an early age and is mostly action tremor, without muscle tonus and motor retardation. Drinking alcohol and taking insulin can reduce the tremor.
(2) Parkinson’s syndrome: there is often a clear cause to be found, such as traumatic brain injury, stroke, viral encephalitis, drugs, poisoning, etc.
6.What are the main risks of this disease?
Parkinson’s disease is a chronic progressive disease, most patients are able to work and live normally after the onset of the disease, but the advanced stage of the disease is less effective to various therapies, due to muscle tonicity, general rigidity and eventually bedridden, often requiring the care of loved ones, which seriously affects the quality of life of patients. Although the disease itself is not life-threatening, it often causes a variety of complications such as pneumonia and fractures, which can be fatal in severe cases.
7.What are the points to note in the diet of Parkinson’s disease?
(1) To achieve a balanced diet with a variety of foods and enjoyable meals.
(2) Eat more cereals and vegetables and fruits.
(3) Eat dairy and legumes in moderation and often.
(4) Eat meat in limited quantities.
(5) Try not to eat fatty meat and animal offal.
(6) Drink more water.
(7) eat half an hour after taking the medicine.
8.How to take care of the heart?
Patients with Parkinson’s disease often have loneliness, guilt, disappointment, sadness, so we need to take care of the heart.
(1) relaxed, harmonious family atmosphere.
(2) care and sympathy, encouragement and support, the anti-Parkinson’s disease as a family affair.
(3) more greetings, more care, more communication of the patient’s thoughts, integration into the family, integration into society.
(4) mobilize initiative and enthusiasm, do more than what you can do, and enhance self-confidence, responsibility and values.
9.How to functional exercise?
Because the disease does not exercise, the joints are fixed like rusty screws, and the physical quality becomes poor. Therefore, daily exercise is important for Parkinson’s disease patients, walking, gymnastics, reading aloud, singing, swimming, tai chi and any simple and easy activities are beneficial, so that all parts of the muscles move, but pay attention to safety.