Sunday, February 1, 2015

Symptoms of PD and Disease Progression

We’ve talked a bit about the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease but this week we’ll break it down a little further. Let’s talk about the top 4 symptoms of the disease and from there discuss some other common symptoms, both motor and non-motor.

 The top four symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease that approximately 90% of all people with PD experience:
1.     Bradykinesia- slowness of movement all over the body
2.     Tremor- shaking that typically starts the hand and may spread as the disease progresses and affect the legs, lips, jaw and other body parts
3.     Rigidity- general stiffness
4.     Postural Instability- difficulty with balance

 Some common motor symptoms that are a bit less common than our top 4
  •        Masked facial expression- harder to see the expression, or emotion, in the face
  •        Stooped posture
  •        Shuffling gait


      Non- Motor: 
  •          Constipation
  •         Difficulties with urination
  •         Trouble swallowing (dysphagia)
  •         Orthostatic Hypotension- drop in blood pressure when a person moves from lying position        to sitting/standing. It can cause dizziness and lightheadedness, even falls
  •         Changes in/ difficulty with smell
  •         Depression

Take a look at this image- it will give you a visual of a typical presentation of Parkinson’s Disease so you can have a better picture of what the disease affects.

Features of PD and Management of Symptoms:




The progression of PD is different for each individual- no doctor or nurse can predict exactly how the disease will unfold. Generally, a person who is diagnoses with Parkinson’s will live an average of 6-22 years after the diagnosis. The disease may progress from mild (symptoms are inconvenient but do not affect daily activities) to moderate (body slows down and motor symptoms may be present of both sides of the body) to advanced (needs assistance with all daily activities and person cannot live alone). Dementia occurs in approximately 40% of PD patients and the prevalence increases as the disease progresses. Generally, postural instability (one of our top four symptoms) occurs in later stages of the disease.

Symptom management, medication and access to care all influence a person’s quality life as they live with disease. It’s important to get the proper care and disease education to ensure the best quality of life possible.


References:


Parkinson’s Disease Foundation (2015). Progression. Retrieved from http://www.pdf.org/en/progression_parkinsons



3 comments:

  1. After was running around from doctor to doctor before we finally get rid of her PD ,at age 74 my mother noticed that her handwriting was getting smaller and I was writing faster as well. She also noticed a small tremor in her left hand. The doctor went over her different symptoms and he suspected she either had a small stroke or the beginnings of Parkinson 's disease. After finding a neurologist and some testing she was diagnosed with the beginning stages of Parkinson’s disease. That was 3 years ago. She take Sinimet four times a day to control the symptoms, which include falling, imbalance, gait problems, swallowing difficulties, and slurring of speech,This year, our family doctor started her on www totalcureherbalfoundation blogspot com PD Herbal mixture, over 3 months into treatment she improved me dramatically. At the end of the full treatment course, the disease is totally under control. No case of dementia, hallucination, weakness, muscle pain or tremors.PD or any other disease natural organic remedies are always work on acidity treatment, if we maintain diet plan and use total cure herbs foundation then we get fast relief from this problem.

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  2. i was diagnosed of parkinson disease 5 years ago,i started azilect,then mirapex as the disease progressed in february last year,and i started on parkinson disease Herbal medicine from ultimate herbal home,few months into the treatment i made a significant recovery,almost all my symptoms are gone,great improvement with my movement and balance,it been a year and life has been so good for me,contact them at ultimatehealthhome@gmail.com

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  3. I am now 59. With the new herbal medicine for Parkinson I purchased from  Multivitamincare . org  was my only way to get rid of my PD,the herbal formula effectively reversed my condition and alleviated all my symptoms, people are suffering from this Parkinson disease due to lack of information.

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