Part 3 of 4

Parkinson’s disease stages

This is People and Parkinson’s – Part 3 and I will be going through the disease stages, causes and other considerations.  Click here if you missed Part 1 and here if you missed Part 2.

Everyone who contracts PD will have differing symptoms which will be evident at different stages of the disease.  The notion of people and Parkinson’s is that the main symptoms that are suffered are tremors and shaking.  These are physical conditions, but what about the mental problems that people suffer like depression and panic attacks, anxiety and stress.  Without a positive mental attitude and outlook PD sufferers will have difficulty coping with the physical symptoms of the disease which can also include pain in various parts of their body, overwhelming tiredness, constipation, sleeplessness etc.. These problems will have a dramatic impact on their lives as they try to come to terms with their condition on a daily basis. Continue reading People and Parkinson’s – Part 3 →

Part 2 of 4

How is Parkinson’s Disease Treated?

This is People and Parkinson’s – Part 2 where I will be talking about how Parkinson’s is treated.

There are a number of different prescription drugs which, of course, will have side effects.  I list below examples of some of these drugs and their given side effects.

Carbidopa/ Levodopa (Sinemet®) which was developed in the 1960s and was considered to be a real breakthrough.  Levodopa on it’s own will cause vomiting and nausea so the addition of carbidopa is given to stop this problem.
Side Effects: Nausea, vomiting, falling blood pressure upon standing, worsening of glaucoma, hallucination, psychosis, low blood pressure, confusion, dyskinesia, dry mouth, dizziness Continue reading People and Parkinson’s – Part 2 →

Part 1 of 4

Early signs – Parkinsons’s Disease

The concept of people and Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is that the sufferer has the shakes and cannot move properly because of it.  But there is much more to this debilitating disease than the general population knows about and I want to go through the early stage symptoms and then how the disease progresses and the treatment that’s available.  I also want to discuss methods of relieving this condition that are not recognised or even offered by the general medical profession.

Although syptoms can be different for each sufferer, movement related problems are usually the first to occur, with people having difficulties in walking and moving around freely.  Tremor, shaking and rigidity are other obvious symptoms.  Balance is often a problem where there is a tendency to be unstable when standing upright, turning or getting out of a chair.  There is definitely an increased risk of falls as the disease progresses.

In the advanced stages of the disease, behavioural and cognitive problems may arise with dementia commonly developing, along with psychiatric symptoms such as depression.  The incidence of PD increases with age with the majority of sufferers being over the age of 40-50.  Men are one and a half times more likely to contract PD than women. Continue reading People and Parkinson’s →