Information Connection: Parkinson's Disease

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By Cathy Richey

Parkinson's Disease is a progressive nervous system disorder. That means it gets worse as time goes on. This has chilling implications for both the victim and the family. This disease affects how a person moves. It even affects how people inflicted with it speak and write.

But you don't just wake up one day and find you've got Parkinson's. It sneaks up on you. The symptoms develop gradually. Often, the first-noticeable symptoms (the ones not brushed off as caused by something else) start off with ever-so-slight tremors in the hand. As the disease progresses, the Parkinson's victim becomes so weak that others notice an unusual "droopy" posture. This isn't laziness, it's weakness.

People with Parkinson's Disease also experience stiffness and find they cannot carry out movements as quickly as before. This unfortunate condition is called bradykinesia.

These factors may raise or lower the risk of developing Parkinson's:

• Circumin. An ingredient found in the spice turmeric, is effective in preventing the clumping of a protein involved in Parkinson's Disease, according to scientists from Michigan State University.
• Flavonoids. Adult males who regularly eat foods rich in flavonoids appear to have a considerably lower risk of developing Parkinson's Disease, compared to others who do not, researchers in the USA and UK reported in the journal Neurology. Examples of these foods include berries, apples, some vegetables, tea, and red wine. In this study, the protective effects come from anthocyanins, a subclass of flavonoids.
• REM sleep disorder. People with REM (rapid eye movement) sleep behavior disorder might have twice the risk of developing Parkinson's Disease and mild cognitive impairment, compared to others without the disease.
• Reheated cooking oils. Aldehydes have been linked to Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and other neurodegenerative diseases, as well as some cancers. It can be found in some oils, such as sunflower oil, when heated to a certain temperature and then used again. Scientists at the University of the Basque Country found that aldehydes remain in cooking oils after they are heated.

A patient with Parkinson's has abnormally low dopamine levels. Dopamine-generating cells, also known as dopaminergic neurons (type of nerve cells) in the substantia nigra part of the brain have died. The substantia nigra is located in the midbrain and plays an important role in movement, reward, and addiction. Doctor's do not know why these cells die.

When the dopamine levels are too low, people find it difficult to get things done mostly because they cannot control their movements. The dopamine levels progressively drop in patients with the disease, so their symptoms become more severe. Dopamine is involved in sending messages to the part of the brain that controls our coordination and movement.

Although Parkinson's Disease may not be a direct cause of death, it is a progressive disease (symptoms get more severe over time). Parkinson's is a chronic disease and a long-term one. It is incurable.

James Parkinson (1755-1824) was an English apothecary surgeon, political activist, paleontologist, and geologist. He wrote An Essay on the Shaking Palsy in 1817. In his work, he is thought to be the first to describe paralysis agitans (shaking palsy).

James Parkinson systematically describes six people with signs and symptoms of this disease we know today as Parkinson's. They were not formally examined, but he observed them often as they went on their daily walks, and asked them to describe their symptoms to him. In his Essay, Parkinson describes the characteristic resting tremors, diminished muscle strength, paralysis, unusual posture and gait, and how this disease progresses over time.