By: Arielle Kim
Approximately ten million people worldwide live with Parkinson’s disease, a chronic and progressive neurological disorder that affects the way you move. This disease can span from a couple years to one’s entire lifetime, worsening as time progresses. Parkinson’s is typically found from the age 60 and onward, but it can also affect people of younger ages.
Parkinson’s disease has many symptoms that affect the human body and mind, but the five most recognizable symptoms are: tremors, slow movements, stiff muscles, and problems with balance and walking. Other symptoms may include sleep disorders, cognitive impairment, digestive problems, and changes in mood, speech, and writing. Symptoms usually start on one …show more content…
This is how the discipline of medication can address the challenges created by the disease. There are many different types of medication, but because Parkinson’s disease is caused by a deficiency of dopamine in the brain, most medication for the symptoms are dopaminergic medications. Dopaminergic medications raise the amount of dopamine in your brain by either temporarily increasing the original level or by substituting for the dopamine. These medicines help motor symptoms such as problems with tremor, walking, and movement. Other symptoms can be treated by different medications. Antidepressants can treat symptoms such as mood disorders by boosting your mood and reducing depression. Cognition enhancing medications can treat cognitive issues such as confusion, slowed thinking, and memory difficulties. Although medication significantly reduces symptoms, one downside is that as a patient continues the use of medicine over time, the effects of it wear down. Symptoms remain controlled, but not to the extent they used to …show more content…
Kinesiology works together with the disciplines of medication and surgery because exercise is crucial to one with Parkinson’s- even if they take medication or undergo surgery. Medication and surgery are complementary to each other because surgery is an alternative treatment option for patients who aren’t responsive to medication, along with cases of advanced-stage Parkinson’s disease. Neurology works together with the other three disciplines because as our understanding of Parkinson’s disease and the brain expand, we can discover new exercises that are beneficial to Parkinson’s disease, create new and improved medications, and create better and safer surgical methods. In conclusion, the disciplines of medication, kinesiology, surgery, and neurology can work together to help improve the quality of life of people living with Parkinson’s