In our first post on Diseases and Disorders, we’re going to delve into Parkinson’s and explore its symptoms, treatments, and causes.
Cause
Parkinson’s is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects the dopaminergic neurons, particularly in the substantia nigra. These neurons are often impaired or dead leading to a decrease in dopamine. Dopamine, which we discussed in the Beginning the Journey into Neuroscience: Neurotransmitters, is essential to muscular movement, which is damaged in Parkinson’s disease. In addition, people with Parkinson's lose the nerve endings that produce norepinephrine. Norepinephrine is the main neurotransmitter of the sympathetic nervous system and controls autonomic functions such as blood pressure and heart rate. The loss of norepinephrine leads to non-movement related symptoms such as fatigue.
Symptoms
In the brain:
Lewy bodies, clumps of the protein alpha-synuclein, form on the brain cells of patients with Parkinson's disease. Scientists are still unsure of the function of alpha-synuclein and how it changes in Parkinson’s disease. Some research points to its relationship with dementia and other symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
Physical symptoms:
Patients usually exhibit shaking, stiffness, and difficulty in walking or balancing. The symptoms progress over time, which is why it is essential to diagnose as soon as possible.
Behavioral symptoms:
People afflicted with Parkinson’s often have difficulty talking, sleep problems, depression, dementia, and fatigue.
Treatment
Currently, there is no cure for Parkinson’s disease - but there are therapies being developed to help relieve symptoms. Drugs such as levadopamine increase dopamine levels in the brain artificially. A therapy that has recently gotten lots of media attention is deep brain stimulation. In this treatment, electrodes are implanted in your brain and can be stimulated to regulate abnormal neural impulses. It can help with some of the movement symptoms associated with Parkinson’s such as shaking. It does come with severe risks so the surgery can not be performed on everyone. Most therapies focus on lifestyle changes to make living with the disease more bearable.
In 2018, researchers from Kyoto University in Japan developed a treatment for Parkinson’s using reprogrammed stem cells. Theoretically, these cells should differentiate into dopaminergic neurons to help decrease symptoms. Studies in monkeys have yielded promising results.
Blog by : Lasya Kambhampati
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