In Parkinson’s disease, the dopamineproducing nerve cells of the substantia nigra die. This makes it more difficult to control movements.
The four primary symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are tremor, rigidity, slowness of movement and impaired balance.
Other symptoms are fatigue, sleep disruptions, constipation, depression and dementia are common.
The disease progresses slowly and the symptoms don’t arise until a quite large part of the affected nerve cells already have died. Thus, you can carry the disease for several years without knowing.
The cause of the disease is unknown, and it can affect anyone. Most patients start getting symptoms around 50-60 years of age, but 25-30 per cent get the diagnose before they are 50 years old. More than one million Americans are said to suffer from Parkinson’s. In the UK the figure is around 120 000, and in Sweden around 15 000.
There is currently no cure for Parkinson’s disease, but it can be successfully treated. The most common treatment is levodopa, which once inside the brain is converted into dopamine and replaces the missing dopamine. After a few years’ treatment, however, the effect of levodopa diminishes, and patients treated with the drug frequently develop abnormal involuntary movements, also known as dyskinesias, after a few years.
There is also a therapy called deep brain stimulation, DBS, in which electrodes are implanted into the brain and connected to a pulse generator. DBS can help reduce motor symptoms, dyskinesias and the need for levodopa and related drugs.
Page Manager: Jens Persson
Last modified: 2011-01-13
