Parkinson

Parkinson Disease is an infection of the central nervous system which takes hold of the patients' motor control thereby restricting his moving abilities. Stiffness claims the body accompanied by jittery hands. More than 120,000 people in the UK suffer from differing degrees of Parkinson's Disease - 10,000 are newly-diagnosed each year.

What happens in the brain?

The basal ganglia are a part of the stem brain and monitors body functions such as motor control, cognition or emotion. The Parkinson Disease causes the death of certain nerve cells in the so called Substantia Nigra situated in the basal ganglia. These nerve cells are in charge of setting free the messenger Dopamine, vital for regulating brain-messengers who are responsible for a smooth motor functioning. With the messenger Dopamine amiss, the brain consequently loses its motor control.

Symptoms

Typical symptoms are akinesia (constriction of moving ability), stiffness and resting tremors. These result in coordination problems such as balance, swallowing, speech, writing and even malfunctioning of the inner organs, sleep disorder and depression.

Parkinson proceeds slowly. 50% of the Substantia Nigras nerve cells are already dead when the first symptoms start to show, and only 20% of the regulating messenger Dopamine is left. The symptoms grow more profound the more nerve cells die, limiting the chance of a successful drug therapy.

How to treat the Parkinson Disease?

There is no cure for Parkinson, only therapies prolonging the advancing of the disease and relieving some pain. That way at least the patients' quality of life and lifespan may improve.