Learn The Signs, Symptoms, and Complications of Parkinson's Disease

April is Parkinson's Awareness Month, and it's an important time to highlight a serious disease. Parkinson's Disease is a brain disorder that causes uncontrollable shaking, stiff muscles, and problems with coordination and balance. The disease is progressive, which means that it will continue to worsen over time as the symptoms increase in intensity and further damage is done.

Most people who suffer from Parkinson's show the first signs near the age of 60, though early-onset Parkinson's, that which occurs before the age of 60, has been known to occur. More men suffer from it than women, on average, and the disease can be inherited genetically, but not always.

Environmental factors and a specific mixture of genetic mutations are currently the top contenders for the cause. Sometimes, the disease just shows up in someone's life, without rhyme, nor reason. It can appear randomly.

What Is Parkinson's Disease?

The disorder is caused by the impairment, or death, of the nerve cells in the basal ganglia, which is the area of your brain that controls movement and creates dopamine. Unfortunately, there is no consensus on what causes these cells to die, but it is always a subject under study.

Everyone has nerve-endings in their brain that create norepinephrine, which works to balance your heart rate and blood pressure. The loss of dopamine causes physical symptoms and the loss of epinephrine is the cause of the internal distress known to follow the disease. And there is no cure, but there are options to lessen your symptoms.

Michael J. Fox has had Parkinson's Disease since the age of 29, which he first noticed because of an unusual tremor in his hand and a problem with his speech. In the beginning, stiffness and the continual slowing of your physical movements are key predictors of the disease.

What Are The Symptoms Of Parkinson's?

Early symptoms of the disease include:

• Tremors in your extremities, such as hands, fingers, and even your chin, especially if there is no logical reason for you to be shaking.
• Your handwriting changes. You write in a smaller font, the letters and words grow closer together, which will eventually lead to the inability to write at all.
• Loss of your sense of smell.
• Inability to sleep due to muscle spasms, shaking, and jerking.
• Restricted movement and trouble walking, due to stiffness, pain, and body-fatigue.
• Constipation not caused by medication, but due to the lack of muscle movement.
• The volume and tone of your voice can change. You can begin to speak in a much quieter voice, accompanied by a hoarseness that was never there before.
• Mostly permanent 'poker face', or mask. Your face looks serious, or even mad, even when you aren't feeling that way.
• Vertigo.
• Leaning, hunching, or stooping instead of standing up straight.

These are they symptoms of the beginning stages of the disease. There are further complications that can drastically change your quality of life.

Complications Involved With Parkinson's

Cognitive problems are common in later stages and aren't usually responsive to any available medications. Patients can become depressed, with an increase in anxiety and a decrease in motivation. There may even be a decrease in a person's libido, and they can lose the ability to control their bladder.

Chewing, swallowing, and eating, in general, are all negatively affected because the movements are caused by muscles affected with the disease. Choking and drooling are mid-to-late stage problems.

Sleeping is always difficult due to the uncontrollable movements, but can become even more difficult when anxiety, bladder problems, and a medication's side effects get in the way. A person with the disorder will be fatigued, but it will be more evident in the later afternoon and evening.

Eventually, in the end stages, muscle rigidity, frozen gait, and full paralysis are all possible.

Parkinson's Treatments

While there is no cure for this disease, there are medications and other treatments that can decrease the severity of your symptoms. The medications usually prescribed increase the amount of dopamine in the brain and helps balance other related chemicals. Medications can help calm the uncontrollable shaking and the non-motor symptoms, such as depression and anxiety.

Physical, speech, and occupational therapy are helpful, especially when you want to keep moving and grooving with your family and friends for as long as possible. A great way to keep you, or your loved one, safe and happy is to keep them in their home, where they have a lifetime of memories and experiences that they cannot lose at this time. Not yet.

Senior Helpers of Overland Park provides in-home care for individuals living with Parkinson's Disease. Our caregivers receive specialized training in our Parkinson's Care Program and we create personalized care plans to serve your needs. We can work with you in light exercising, medication reminders, fall prevention, and help you keep up with, and recognize, future symptoms and problems.

Contact us today for a free assessment, and let us be there to assist you and your family.