FAQ • Parkinson Disease

FAQ - Parkinson Disease
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What must I pay attention to with the medicine to cure Parkinson's disease?Thank you!Merci!谢谢！?

My mother is 51years old, and she was diagnosed this disease 3years ago, I would even give up my life if this could save her situation from worsening. Please help!!!

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First of all, sorry to hear about your mother.
Let the doctors worry about the medication. They'll know according to what other diseases she has etc what the best course of medical treatment it.
What you need to do is to be her support. Gather in other members of your family and friends. One of the worst things about Parkinson's is that the patient tends to become very depressed. See, unlike Alzheimer's there's nothing wrong cognitively...so the patient tends to feel angry or depressed at what their body is going through. Always be very supportive and try to cheer her up. Let her see the good things there still are in her life.
I wish you and your mother well. (+ info)

Can parkinson disease can anything to do with grand mal seizures?

I have recently began to have severe shaking of my left leg and now its over in the right.

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Check your vitamin B12 levels. Tremors are a symptom of this deficiency and can be misdiagnosed as parkinson's disease.

http://www.ehow.com/about_5299702_vitamin-shots-given.html

http://b12awareness.org/about-b12/signs-symptoms-neurologic-psychiatric-hematologic-infants-children/ (+ info)

What specific problems does parkinson's disease create for an affected person in society?

i'm writing a speach for english class in school and i can't find an answer for this question anywhere, i was hopeing some would be able to help me.

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I was diagnosed at 36 and am 41 and here are some of the problems I have had :

1) Driving - there are some situations I will not drive in. examples being when my symptoms are severe or when there is snow and ice on the roads.

2) Work - Stress makes my symptoms worse, which makes it harder to do my job. I am a systems analyst and the symptoms I have can make typing harder and my handwriting almost impossible to read.

3) In general, it is something I have to take into account when making plans. I have to plan my medications so they are active when I need them to be. (+ info)

Parkinson's disease: are left handers more prone to develop this?

Hi, I'm sure that they are but I'm having some difficulty finding concrete medical studies on this aspect of parkinson's disease. Thanks for any links to pages stating.

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Between 10-15% of the population is left handed. Lefties seem to have more use of both hemispheres than right handers. But there do not appear to be statistics to support that southpaws are more prone to developing PD.

There is a slight edge to symptoms appearing on the left side of left handed patients by 52% as opposed to about 47% of right handers symptoms appearing on the right side (as opposed to 38% of right handers symptoms appearing on the left side. The trend to for unilateral symptoms onset to be on the dominant side.

What does appear to be a trend is that left-handed individuals appear to have more severe PD symptoms on the left side of the body.

While handedness may be a slight side predictor but it doesn't predict the onset side of motor symptoms according to a Czech study.

What is interesting about left or right in relationship to Parkinson's disease for example is that drug molecules can also have a dominant side. And the body proteins can differentiate and react in response, according to PET imaging studies at Brookhaven Institute:
."..the right-handed version is responsible for the therapeutic effects of the drug. As a result, if the right-handed version were to be isolated and produced as a pharmaceutical drug, patients may only have to take half of the current dose to get the same effect. This kind of selective production can also help reduce unwanted drug side effects – L-dopa, used to treat Parkinson’s disease, is one example of a left-handed molecule being used because the right-handed version has associated side effects."

In a study done in 2004, I read: "With a greater ability for one brain hemisphere to quickly back up the tasks of the other, left-handed seniors could retain mental quickness longer than their right-handed counterparts." Which would suggest that left-handed PD patients might have an edge. Why? because PD in a sense is a quickened aging process.

The thing is that most of the discussion and the study focuses upon the appearing side of symptoms rather than the dominant side of the patient. And that may be more significant for the patient. According to one study, PD patients whose symptoms appeared on the left side demonstrated poorer visual than verbal memory while the right side patients were the reverse.

You might be looking for a broader statement such as this one from WebMD
"Left-handed people have been shown to have more disorders involving the nervous system, autism, stuttering, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, epilepsy, and schizophrenia. They also tend to have some minor physical anomalies -- like low-set ears and mismatched fingers"

One thing to be aware of is that because lefties are in the minority, there is a tendency to call attention to the more famous southpaws. In sports being a southpaw is often an advantage and therefore is often mentioned. So when famous lefties have a medical condition, all of the unusual details are put out there even though they many not be that relevant.

Links to all references:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15955945?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_SingleItemSupl.Pubmed_Discovery_RA&linkpos=1&log$=relatedarticles&logdbfrom=pubmed
http://viartis.net/parkinsons.disease/news/090421.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18346926
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122454037/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0
http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/2002/bnlpr040702.htm
http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/2002/bnlpr040702.htm
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract;jsessionid=FFF8D568FB57472C4D5C45259A9EEEA4.tomcat1?fromPage=online&aid=470755
http://www.webmd.com/news/20000908/does-being-lefty-affect-health-creativity----sexuality

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Does anyone out there have fibromyalgia and Parkinson's disease?

Now at age 60, I have a diagnosis of Parkinson's. I read that they might be related. My parkinson's symptom's don't seem typical. Thanks!

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If you go to Patients Like Me and register as a Parkinson's patient you will be able to join a more relevant discussion there. And PLM just added a Fibromyalgia community.
http://www.patientslikeme.com/

From what I have read (I am a PD caregiver registered at that site) there are not only similarities to PD but also to Lyme Disease. I did see some people who had an early diagnosis of Fibromyalgia and were later dx'd with PD. Which means that possibly their original diagnoses were wrong.

We also know that Fibromyalgia can develop as a result of Rheumatoid Arthritis or Lupus.

This is a cut and paste of the specific Fibromyalgia symptoms and diseases & conditions with similar symproms from Google Health:

Specific symptoms:
Body aches
Chronic facial muscle pain or aching
Fatigue
Irritable bowel syndrome
Memory difficulties and cognitive difficulties
Multiple tender areas (muscle and joint pain) on the back of the neck, shoulders, sternum, lower back, hips, shins, elbows, knees
Numbness and tingling
Palpitations
Reduced exercise tolerance
Sleep disturbances
Tension or migraine headaches

Conditions associated with or which mimic Fibromyalgia symptoms:
Cancer
Cervical and low-back degenerative disease
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Depression
HIV infection
Hypothyroidism
Irritable bowel syndrome
Lyme disease
Rheumatoid arthritis
Sleep disorders

There is similarity of symptoms but not as many in the early stages of PD. Numbness & tingling often proceed tremor onset. Sleep disturbances are often an early symptom. Shoulder and neck pain are also early symptoms, especially in women. IBS or celiac-like symptoms and body pain are also PD symptoms. Facial muscle pain can develop along with the rest of body stiffness.

The treatments for Fibromyalgia are essentially symptomatic as there is yet no definitive cause. On occasion the meds may be ones used for PD but not that often. Pain relievers, antidepressants are used. Stretching exercises - so important in PD are also suggested.

This is an excerpt from a 2005 study abstract:
"it appears that FMS might be characterized by a disruption of dopaminergic neurotransmission."
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WKH-4M1TT1W-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1006123197&_rerunOrigin=scholar.google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=e606d42ff583b4a62fae0a393b7ae5a2

You might also be interested in this paper about enzyme detoxification although it is older:
http://www.thorne.com/media/detoxificationenzymes.pdf

Well, I just learned something from a 1996 abstract. This is an abstract about PD precursor or predromal symtoms and cardiovascular (autonomic) symtoms were also listedL
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/109747690/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0

An abstract about a PD patient diagnosed with Fibromyalgia:
http://www.prd-journal.com/article/S1353-8020(06)00095-2/abstract

And one last PD-Fibromyalgia link about dopamine:
http://www.fmpartnership.org/Files/Website2005/Learn%20About%20Fibromyalgia/Articles/Dopamine.pdf

Lyme disease and Fibromyalgia share several common symptoms. PD and Lyme disease are sometimes confused with the diagnosis usually going to Parkinson's which is not a good thing as Lyme disease MUST be treated promptly. Lyme disease is also known as the Great Mimicker.

https://www.google.com/health/ref/Lyme+disease

I am assuming that you were diagnosed by a neurologist. It never hurts (except financially) to get a 2nd and 3rd opinion if you have doubts.

One reason for the financial issue is that health insurers often allow only one diagnosis and so when they have one...they stop.

Do remember that PD symptoms manifest in a number of ways - the stereotypes are just public images - not necessarily what many people endure as the disease progresses. And progression can take place at varying rates depending upon many things: medication choices, supplements, diet, exercise, timing of diagnosis, medication side effect, cause. Some symptoms are not discussed as much so that you don't see them in the standard lists.

You can contact me through Yahoo Answers or at Contact Us in the site below (+ info)

Do Compulsive gambling and Parkinson's disease have any link?

I have Parkinson's disease and I saw an article that linked compulsive gambling with PD medication and my Neurologist has confirmed that there is a link with compulsive behavior and certain medication being given for PD. My question is being asked because I just saw a number of incorrect answers that were given here to someone that asked about it. The asker was told in no uncertain terms that gambling is a social disease and not a medical problem. Has anyone else here ever read an article linking compulsive gambling to PD medication?

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I mentioned to my neurologist last year during one of my regular visits for Parkinsons kind of in passing, that I kept busy filing all the catalogs I was suddenly collecting I laughed because I had never done this before in my 64 years. I laughed, and he said "oh oh"! Anything else?, he said, I admitted I had also signed up for a "few" charge cards and was purchasing "things". I was embarrassed telling him, behavior was unlike me. It's the Mirapex he told me. My dosage was reduced and the problem was mostly solved. So in answer to your question, no it's not the disease that causes obsessive behavior but the medication. I'm still getting .25mg of Mirapex reduced from 1mg, because I'm not well without, but my "problem" has improved 98% I only have a small basket full of catalogs (no more), the cards are cut-up and the collector's are calling. If someone you know is gambling and taking some form of mirapex which is manufactured under other names, then please see the physician and discuss if it can be reduced or replaced. Lawyers are already waiting in line to sue the maker of these drugs, which are having both good and bad effects. Good luck marika (+ info)

Is there anything that can be done about Parkinson's disease besides symptomatic relief?

A friend with PD seems to be in denial about how serious this is, but maybe that doesn't matter. Medication has stopped the shaking and he is treating it as a minor nuisance. This may actually be a healthy attitude, but I wonder if he should be taking it more seriously . Is there something else he should be doing, diet or lifestyle changes or anything else to slow the inevitable decline?

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Your friend is taking meds which help. He is fortunate that they do help BUT depending upon the meds he is taking, their effectiveness over a long period of time may be limited.

If he is taking levadopa alone...not that many years before the dyskinesias return. If he is taking levadopa and carbidopa he will have a longer period of symptom reduction.

I don't know about the figures for the dopamine agonists or some of the other meds but possibly he can eventually add the calcium channel blocker Isradipine to hopefully prolong the good results for many, many years.

You are correct about planning ahead. Parkinson's can be a treacherous journey for some. I refer you to the following article, Parkinson's Is No Day Trip:
http://parkinsonsfocustoday.blogspot.com/2008/11/parkinsons-disease-is-no-day-trip.html

Diet is debatable. Reducing fat and red meat might be advisable but not if he isn't interested. Adding some supplements. I'm a big booster of CoQ10 a powerful antioxidant which has been also demonstrated to reduce tremor on its own. I think this belongs in the regimen of any PD patient who can afford it. There are some others but this one is a basic supplement as long as it is of the trans-isomer process manufacture.

I think your friend's "denial" may actually be a healthy resistance to being a patient. He wants to be identified as himself and not as a disease. As long as he has a great neurologist and keeps informed about his current course of treatment and current developments, he may just be lucky enough to live comfortably until a cure is found. Some of us feel that the cure will be found within 10 years.

Exercise is very important. If he is not stooped, shuffling, having PD depression or vision problems...if he is not having difficulties swallowing, speaking, breathing, choking...if he is not freezing, having balance problems...he may feel that he doesn't need to exercise. But he does.

Sense of humor is very important and seeing the disease as a minor inconvenience allows him not just to survive but to live.

Since there are many other treatments available if and when, he may not feel the need to plan because he is aware of the next possibilities. And why should he, he has friends like you to do the worrying. I would say that he's pretty lucky...for now.

But I do agree with you, he may be tempting the disease progression by not trying to get ahead of it. That is the idea behing the antioxidants and the exercise (a stimulant.) As long as he is not in denial as part of a PD depression, just be his friend and help him to stay active. PD patients do need to be proactive in their treatment so that the disease doesn't outrun them...which was your point.

Just out of curiousity, does he have "on and off" times in his medication treatment? If he is on Azilect, the progression may actually be slowed. Same with DynaCirc CR.

If he stays ahead of the pipeline he may live to a comfortable old age.

Addendum: There are other treatment options some of which require somewhat invasive surgery and are not always successful. DBS (deep brain stimulation) is intended for patients who want to reduce meds or have reached a point where the meds are not working very well. It is usually not a good idea just to have surgery unless there is a quality of life issue. Your friend doesn't feel that there is.

There is also a very effective patch which was removed from the US market temporarily but is on the market in several European countries.

And there are some other promising treatments in development.

You friend is already on medication. I think he is using a wait and see approach which seems makes him comfortable. But the antioxidants and exercise should also be added if possible. Are you willing to exercise with him? (+ info)

Can a person with Parkinson's Disease eventually die?

I ask because I figured if you have Multiple Schlorosis, you will sooner or later die from it. So, is it the same with Parkinson's?

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Yes! Parkinsonians have greater risk of death owing to what is known as paradoxical baring caused by amnesia and also on account of dementia. For example, they may get out in the open and bare themselves thus falling victim to the hypothermia. Or they may harm themselves by forgetting simple things like daily popping of the pills prescribed by a doctor thus not receiving proper medication. (+ info)

What are the secondary and third systems involved in Parkinson's Disease?

I'm doing a school project for science. I already know that the primary system involved is the nervous system.
Thanks in advance!

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As Parkinson's disease progresses, all systems in the body can be affected. Parkinson's disease has both motor and non-motor symptoms

The central nervous system would be the first system as you have already indicated. Muscular system would be 2nd. The gastrointestinal system would probably be next but according to the lists below, that means coupling the respiratory with the G-I track. Meaning that these would be 3 & 4.

Circulatory System (heart, blood, vessels)
Respiratory System (nose, trachea, lungs)
Immune System (many types of protein, cells, organs, tissues)
Skeletal System (bones)
Excretory System (lungs, large intestine, kidneys)
Urinary System (bladder, kidneys)
Muscular System (muscles)
Endocrine System (glands)
Digestive System (mouth, esophagus, stomach, intestines)
Nervous System (brain, spinal cord, nerves)
Reproductive System (male and female reproductive organs)

or you can look at it as organ systems:
Skeletal
Muscular
Circulatory
Nervous
Respiratory
Digestive
Excretory
Endocrine
Lymphatic/immune
http://web.jjay.cuny.edu/~acarpi/NSC/14-anatomy.htm

For a good overview, see:
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/parkinsons_disease/detail_parkinsons_disease.htm

Here's the thing, Parkinson's disease which is probably a cluster of parkinsonian syndromes, can take a variety of forms for development. Not every patient develops every symptom and not every symptom develops at the same place in progression. Progression rate is different from patient to patient. One thing is that although there are variations, there are also commonalities shared by a majority of patients.

The most common initial symptoms involve tremor, rigidity-stiffness, bradykinesia (slowness of movement) and postural instability (balance issues)

We have CNS (autonomic nervous system) Muscular, followed by gastrointestinal which also relates to muscular but in a different way. (+ info)

How to avoid parkinson's disease?

My aunt is diagnosed with parkinson's disease and she not a very active person and my uncle probably died from parkinson's. According to wikipedia, pesticide accounts for 70% of parkinson's disease. Is there any preventions to this disease like exercise when you are young? I would like to have anyone with knowledge to share their experience with me. Thanks.

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the exact cause of the nerve diseases are not clearly known like cancer. there may genetic, environmental, and other factors which cause these diseases.

yes pesticides are a cause but genetics is a big factor. pesticides generally come from contaminated foods, so if you stop taking contaminated foods then that pesticide factor can be blocked but what about genetics? you can't change your genes.

however head trauma, and some drugs used to treat schizophrenia can also cause parkinson's disease. so try to avoid head trauma.

As the cause of the disease is not clearly known so the means of prevention of the dieases is also not known. the disease can not be fully cured too.

exercise, healthy diet can keep many diseases apart from us . who knows one day may be researchers say that it can prevent Parkinson's disease also. Lets hope for the best. (+ info)

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