World Parkinson’s Day: Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder that leads to shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with walking, balance, and coordination. As per a report on the Parkinson’s Disease Statistics, an estimated seven to 10 million people worldwide have Parkinson’s disease.
World Parkinson’s Day is observed on April 11 to create awareness of the health condition and understand the disease better.
Causes of this disease
When nerve cells in the basal ganglia of the brain that controls the movement are impaired, Parkinson’s condition develops in an individual. Usually, these nerve cells coordinate the movement in the body through a brain chemical called dopamine. When these nerve cells become impaired or die out, the release of dopamine is slowed down a result of which the patient is not able to coordinate walking, balance and other movements.
Symptoms of Parkinson’s disease
- In this people experience tremors in the hands, arms, jaw and also in the head. This tremor is more like an involuntary rhythmic shaking or movement in the body. Tremors or shakiness can also be felt in the chin, lips, face and legs.
- Stiffness or tightness in the limbs is often seen as a symptom of Parkinson’s disease.
- Since the responsible nerve cells, which regulate the movement in a body, die out leading to Parkinson’s disease, the movement of a person slows down. This condition is called Bradykinesia. It is one of the cardinal symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
- Due to impaired balance and coordination, the patient loses balance and falls. With the increase in the risk of falling, the risk of disability due to the fall also increases. This can have a detrimental effect on the individual.
Risk factors
Though age is certainly the biggest risk factor, Parkinson’s disease is seen often in men. As per a report, men are 1.5 times more likely to have the disease than women. The usual age of onset of Parkinson’s disease is 60 years.
If there’s a family history of Parkinson’s disease, one may experience it at later ages as well. “About 10 to 20 percent of Parkinson’s disease cases are linked to a genetic cause,” says Ted Dawson, director of the Institute for Cell Engineering at Johns Hopkins.
The environment also plays a crucial role in this. Health experts have linked the use of pesticides, herbicides, detergents, and heavy metals to the occurrence of Parkinson’s disease.
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