Parkinson disease-introduction
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic, progressive neurological disease that affects a part of the brain that produces dopamine, a chemical that tells muscles how to move. Generally, by the time the disease is diagnosed, up to 80 percent of the dopamine-producing neurons are no longer functioning.
Parkinson's diseases are a class of neurological disorders that affect the central nervous system by hindering muscle movement control and producing psychological problems. Symptoms of Parkinson's disease include shaking, tremors, and poor coordination. Parkinson's diseases most often affect people over the age of 50. Manganism, caused by excessive manganese exposure, is considered part of the class of Parkinson's diseases due to the similarity of symptoms. Learn more about manganese exposure.
The first concise description of the disorder known today as Parkinson's disease was provided by James Parkinson, a London general practitioner, in 1817.
Sleep disorders are common in Parkinson's disease (PD), as almost two thirds of PD patients report them. From a clinical point of view, they can be classified into disorders of initiation and maintenance of sleep (DIMS), parasomnias, and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). Among the causes of DIMS are degenerative changes in the CNS affecting centers for sleep regulation, persistence into the night of daytime PD-related symptoms, concomitant medical or psychiatric disease, disruption of circadian rhythms, and effects of dopaminergic (and other) medication on sleep regulation.
What are the causes of Parkinson's disease?
What causes PD is not known, there may be genetic causality, but the main pathological process involves degeneration of the SUBSTANTIA NIGRA, which is situated in the basal ganglia and is an area rich in dopamine cells. Dopamine is one of the major neurotransmitters, or naturally occurring chemicals, found in the brain. In PD there is a major depletion of dopamine, especially apparent in the fiber projection from the substantia nigra to the corpus striatum. Dopamine is believed to be the main, but not the only, neurotransmitter involved in PD.
In PD, the underlying problem has to do with a neurotransmitter called dopamine. A small number of very specific brain cells make dopamine. Though only a few cells make dopamine, these cells send the neurotransmitter to many different regions of the brain. Changes in dopamine levels can have widespread effects within the brain.
When we are young, our brains make plenty of dopamine. As we get older, this amount decreases. In PD, the amount of dopamine becomes critically low. In PD, the amount of dopamine changes very slowly over time. This causes the very gradual worsening of movement. In early PD, as in this study, the symptoms may be mild.
Manganese and Parkinson''s disease have been linked in a number of studies done around the world. People who work with manganese often suffer from a variety of symptoms, known as manganism, which experts have classified as a Parkinson''s syndrome. Symptoms of manganese-related Parkinson''s include tremors, lethargy, impaired concentration, speech difficulties and awkward gait. Parkinson''s from manganese exposure continues to progress clinically even years later, when traces of manganese can no longer be detected in the body.
Some other causes of Parkinson's disease:
Encephalitis
Brain tumor
Head injury
Brain injury
Traumatic brain injury
Carbon monoxide poisoning
Hydrocephalus
Certain toxins or medications
