Parkinson's disease, also known as Parkinson's disease, is a degenerative disease of the brain, characterized by altering movements, causing tremor, muscle stiffness, slowing of movements and imbalance. Its cause, although not fully known, is due to a wear on regions of the brain responsible for the production of dopamine, an important brain neurotransmitter.
This disease usually occurs in people over the age of 50, but it can happen early in some cases and, to control symptoms, medications, such as Levodopa, are used to help replenish dopamine and other substances necessary for nerve stimulation and movement control.
How to identify and confirm the diagnosis
The signs and symptoms of Parkinson's disease begin gradually, almost imperceptibly at first, but which get worse over time. The main ones are:
| Signals | Characteristics |
| Tremor |
It happens only at rest, that is, it gets worse when the person is stopped and improves when he makes some movement. Usually, it predominates on one side of the body, being more present in the hand, arm, legs or chin. |
| Muscle stiffness |
It happens with the difficulty to move, giving a feeling of being stiff, preventing activities such as walking, opening arms, going up and down stairs. Thus, it is common for the posture to become more stooped. Freezing can also happen, which is when the person has difficulty getting out of place. |
| Slower movement | The agility to make quick and wide movements is compromised, so that simple tasks, such as opening and closing hands, dressing, writing or chewing become difficult, a situation called bradykinesia. |
| Loss of balance and reflexes |
Due to the difficulty in controlling movements, it is difficult to balance and maintain posture, with a high risk of falls, in addition to a lesser capacity to react to stimuli, since movements are compromised. |
To diagnose Parkinson's disease, the neurologist or geriatrician will assess the presence of these signs and symptoms, through the patient's history and physical examination, requiring at least 3 of them to be present.
In addition, other symptoms that are very present in this disease are:
- Decreased facial expressions; Difficulty speaking, with hoarse and slurred voice; Decreased blinking of the eyes; Changes in sleep, such as insomnia, nightmares, sleepwalking; Gagging and difficulty swallowing food; Dermatitis on the skin; Difficulty in smelling; Intestine arrested; Depression.
The doctor may also order other tests, such as magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography of the skull, blood tests or electroencephalogram, for example, to rule out other causes of altered movements, which can be confused with Parkinson's, such as essential tremor, stroke sequel, tumor, advanced syphilis, progressive supranuclear palsy or even the use of some drugs, such as haloperidol, for example.
What Causes Parkinson's
Anyone can develop Parkinson's disease, because it is not an inherited disease. It arises due to a degeneration of the brain, which causes the death of neurons of the substantia nigra, an important area of the brain that is related to the production of dopamine, which is the cause of the main signs and symptoms of this disease.
Scientific studies have been done to try to discover more definitively the causes of Parkinson's disease, and, currently, it has been shown that the population of intestinal bacteria can influence the development of both this disease and other brain diseases.
Although more evidence is still needed, it is already known that the intestine has a nervous connection with the brain, and that the predominance of bad bacteria in the intestine, through an unhealthy diet, rich in carbohydrates and industrialized products, can lead to changes in the metabolism and immunity of the body, in addition to impairing the health of neurons.
So, despite the reason that the brain degenerates is still unknown, and therefore there is still no cure, there are treatments that can help reduce symptoms and give quality of life to people with Parkinson's.
How to treat
Treatment for Parkinson's disease is done with the use of drugs for life, which help to decrease symptoms and slow the progression of the disease. The main medication used is Levodopa, which helps replenish the amount of dopamine, an important neurotransmitter for controlling movements, and some subtle examples are Prolopa and Carbidopa.
Other remedies that are also used to improve symptoms are Biperiden, Amantadine, Seleginine, Bromocriptine and Pramipexole, especially in the early stages. Physiotherapy, physical activity and occupational therapy are also very important to assist the treatment of Parkinson's, as it encourages movement restoration and recovery. Find out more details about how treatment for Parkinson's is done.
In the most advanced phases, a promising treatment is deep brain stimulation surgery, which has been performed in large neurology centers, and which improves the patient's symptoms and quality of life. Learn more about the indications and how deep brain stimulation is done.
