Parkinson’s disease should be suspected if the movement of the parents, who welcomed the Chuseok holiday, is slower than before or shows a change in behavior that makes it difficult to focus.
Parkinson’s disease, the most common degenerative brain disease after dementia, is caused by the loss of neurons that make dopamine, a neurotransmitter in our brain. Due to the nature of degenerative diseases, the symptoms gradually worsen, and the more time passes, the more visible symptoms become. It mainly occurs in the elderly, and the risk of contracting the disease increases with age. Without proper treatment, movement disorders may progress progressively, making it difficult to walk and even unable to perform daily activities at all.
Parkinson’s disease starts very slowly and progresses little by little, so it is difficult to know exactly when the disease started.
Typical motor symptoms are △ ‘brokenness’ in which the movement of the limbs becomes slow △ tremor in which the hands, legs, and jaw tremble when standing still △ ‘stiffness’ in which the body stretches and stiffens △ ‘posture instability’ that makes it difficult to focus while walking There is this. In addition to these symptoms, various non-motor symptoms such as depression, sleep talk, poor sense of smell, constipation, fatigue, and pain may appear. Other symptoms of Parkinson’s disease include expressionlessness, a gradual decrease in size when writing, and a decrease in voice when speaking.
Professor Yu Dala of the Department of Neurology at Kyunghee University Hospital said, “The most important thing in diagnosing Parkinson’s disease is the history and neurological examination of the patient’s characteristic symptoms through a specialist. This is done to differentiate the disease from other diseases that can be confused with the disease,” he said.
Parkinson’s disease treatment can be divided into exercise and rehabilitation treatment, drug treatment, and surgical treatment. In Parkinson’s disease, motor function gradually deteriorates, so regular and steady exercise is essential for symptom improvement. It is important to find an exercise that the patient can do, such as walking for more than 30 minutes, indoor cycling, and swimming, and make a habit of doing it consistently.
If symptoms are mild and do not interfere with daily life, medication may be delayed. However, it is necessary to receive regular medical treatment from a specialist to confirm the progress of the disease and the need for drug treatment. As a treatment drug, a precursor (levodopa) that acts as dopamine in the brain and an auxiliary drug that can inhibit the breakdown of dopamine or produce a similar effect are used. None of the currently used treatment methods can restore lost brain cells to normalcy. However, proper drug treatment can slow the progression of the disease as much as possible by maintaining daily life and maintaining regular exercise.
Parkinson’s is the only degenerative disease that can improve symptoms through surgery. In a typical deep brain stimulation procedure, electrodes are placed on both sides of the brain and weak electrical stimulation is continuously applied to maintain a constant therapeutic effect and reduce the drug dose. It is necessary to be careful because electrodes are placed in the patient’s brain and maintained for a long time, but if the drug control has reached its limit, it can be selected in consultation with the attending physician.
Professor Yudala said, “Patients who exercise consistently from the early stage of Parkinson’s disease are known to have a good long-term outcome. Patients with Parkinson’s disease in the middle and later stages are prone to falls, so take precautions to avoid injury from falling in a small space such as a bathroom. You have to be careful, and it is best to remove objects that are easy to trip over or furniture that can cause injury from falling from the road where patients usually go.”
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