Motor Symptoms Occur When The Nogo Pathway Is Activated
The motor symptoms of Parkinsons disease typically appear years after the disease process has begunoften 20 or more years after. Its estimated that motor symptoms appear when approximately 30% to 60% of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra are lost. Studies show varied results when it comes to the actual percentage of substantia nigra neuron loss necessary to produce motor symptoms, and its safe to say that the exact percentage is different from person to person. Regardless of the percentage, it is understood that when dopamine levels decrease to a critical threshold, tremor or other motor symptoms may be feltsometimes suddenly. For many people, this is the first noticeable sign of the disease.
Dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra send dopamine into two basal ganglia motor loops, referred to as the direct pathway of movement and the indirect pathway of movement. Dopamine regulates motor activity by acting on dopamine receptors, of which there are two types: D1-like receptors are present in the direct pathway, and D2-like receptors are present in the indirect pathway .
The direct pathway allows us to move in ways that we want to; activation of the direct pathway increases ease of movement and of initiating movement. In contrast, the indirect pathway allows us to suppress unwanted movement.
Naturaltreatment For Parkinsons #9 Exercise And Other Alternative Therapies:
Regular exercise has been shown to help Parkinsonssufferers by reducing muscle stiffness, increasing mobility, and enhancing postureand balance. Exercise also increases oxygen levels and neurotransmitters, alongwith releasing potent mood elevating chemicals called endorphins.
The type of exercise performed for PD is crucial. Aqua orwater aerobics can be particularly useful as traditional exercise is usuallyquite difficult for many Parkinsons sufferers. Muscle decline, loss of strength,stiffness and loss of balance can make conventional exercises difficult toperform. The great thing about aqua aerobics is it still has the same benefits as other exercise regimens,but the risk of falling is eliminated.
Other types of exercises that can be beneficial for PDsufferers include Tai Chi, Yoga, dancing, walking, aerobic/jazzercise classes,and general stretching.
For more information on the different exercise programsavailable for Parkinsons patients, you can check out this website ;Exercise and Physical Therapy for ParkinsonsDisease
Parkinson’s Disease Symptoms Everyone Should Know
Parkinsons disease symptoms can include tremor and trouble with movement, along with emotional and cognitive changes.
Parkinson’s disease symptoms can vary significantly from person to person. Some people may have range of motor symptoms, like tremor, stiffness, and slow movements. Others may also experience the non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, such as anxiety, cognitive changes, and loss of smell.
It has to do with a chemical messenger known as dopamine, which plays a role in the brain’s ability to control movement, coordination, and emotional responses. In Parkinson’s disease, the brain cells that produce dopamine either stop doing their job or they die out, resulting in both motor and non-motor symptoms. ; It’s not always easy to tell if someone you care about has Parkinson’s disease. Let’s take a closer look at the symptoms of the disease and signs that someone should make an appointment with their doctor.
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Overall, the findings add to the argument in favor of timely identification, assessment and treatment of even mild brain injury in military veterans while highlighting the need for better care and funding for research of this common injury among this at-risk population, he said.
Eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly and controlling medical conditions are the best way to ward off any neurodegenerative disease, Gardner said.
If anyone is worried, she said, do a little bit better to live more healthily.
Dr Jay Alberts Discovers The Magic Of Forced Exercise For Parkinsons Patients
In 2003 Dr. Jay Alberts rode the Des Moines Registers Annual Great Bike Race Across Iowa with his friend Cathy, who has Parkinsons disease. Dr. Alberts rode the front of a tandem bicycle with Cathy pedaling behind him. Cathy remarked, for this week it did not feel like I had Parkinsons. After several days of riding, Dr. Alberts noticed that Cathys motor control, most notably her handwriting, had improved. This set him on a path toward groundbreaking research on the benefits of forced exercise for Parkinsons patients.
When the effects of exercise are tested in animal models of Parkinsons, the exercise is often forced, meaning that the animal is forced to exercise at a more intense level than they would choose to on their own. Researchers have found that this forced exercise is far more effective than voluntary exercise in stimulating the release of neurotrophic factors and enhancing neurogenesis. Researchers suggest that contradictory results in human and animal studies are caused by differences between voluntary versus forced exercise patients with PD may not be able to exercise at sufficiently high rates to trigger the endogenous release of the neurotrophic factors thought to underlie global improvements in motor function.
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Causes Of Parkinsons Disease
Parkinsons Disease is a disorder of the central nervous system that causes problems with movement.
With PD, certain neurons in the area of the brain called the;substantia nigra;break down and die. These neurons produce the chemical dopamine.
Dopamine acts as a messenger between the parts of the brain and nervous system that coordinate movement. Therefore, when dopamine levels decrease in the brain, this can lead to abnormal and slowed movements.
The symptoms of PD only appear when 80% of the neurons in the substantia nigra have died. This is why PD is considered to be a slow progressive disease.
The precise cause of PD is still unknown; however, it is most likely due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
Whats The Difference Between Corticobasal Degeneration And Parkinsons
The main difference between CBD and Parkinsons is that it usually starts on one side with the gradual loss of use of one hand or leg , and there may be little flicks of involuntary muscle jerks. Walking and balance difficulties usually occur later in CBD than in Parkinsons. Also, in CBD, a person may have trouble with purposeful movements, such as buttoning a shirt or cutting food.
For more information on corticobasal degeneration, read this information page.
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What Is The Outlook For Persons With Parkinsons Disease
Although there is no cure or absolute evidence of ways to prevent Parkinsons disease, scientists are working hard to learn more about the disease and find innovative ways to better manage it, prevent it from progressing and ultimately curing it.
Currently, you and your healthcare teams efforts are focused on medical management of your symptoms along with general health and lifestyle improvement recommendations . By identifying individual symptoms and adjusting the course of action based on changes in symptoms, most people with Parkinsons disease can live fulfilling lives.
The future is hopeful. Some of the research underway includes:
- Using stem cells to produce new neurons, which would produce dopamine.
- Producing a dopamine-producing enzyme that is delivered to a gene in the brain that controls movement.
- Using a naturally occurring human protein glial cell-line derived neurotrophic factor, GDNF to protect dopamine-releasing nerve cells.
Many other investigations are underway too. Much has been learned, much progress has been made and additional discoveries are likely to come.
What Does This Mean
The study confirms that concussions are an important risk factor of Parkinsons disease. Indeed, having a concussion increases the risk of developing Parkinsons disease by 57%. Additionally, this risk is more than tripled when a person has had at least three concussions.
Further studies are needed to properly understand how concussions increase the risk of developing Parkinsons disease. This study nevertheless shows that measures must be taken to prevent and better handle concussions.
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How Common Are Concussions
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that almost three million adults and children in the United States suffer a concussion each year. Each day, an average of 150 Americans die of traumatic brain injury.;
How does a concussion happen? The main causes of a concussion are head injuries from car accidents, falls, and sports-related concussions.
There are long-term effects of concussions in football. Football players are especially vulnerable to severe or mild traumatic brain injury.
Since it is a contact sport, football is a risk factor for long-term concussion symptoms. The NFL has been slow to admit the link between playing football and sports concussions. However, researchers have concluded there is indeed a link.
But American football is not the only dangerous sport. There are a few sports where a higher percentage of athletes suffer concussions:
- Mens ice hockey
- Womens ice hockey
- Womens soccer
It is estimated that one third of former amateur contact sports athletes have CTE, which is a progressive brain disorder resulting from repetitive head injuries.
The long-term effects of multiple concussions can be even worse. The more often you are concussed, the more likely these symptoms of concussions will occur.
Whats The Difference Between Multiple System Atrophy And Parkinsons
Parkinsons and MSA both affect the movement control system and the involuntary autonomic control system and early symptoms can make a differential diagnosis a challenge. MSA, however, tends to progress faster than Parkinsons; balance problems and a stooped posture happen earlier and get worse more quickly with MSA; and autonomic functions such as blood pressure, heart rate, breathing, sweating, bladder function, and sexual problems are more severe in people with MSA.
For more information on multiple symptom atrophy, read this fact sheet.
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Natural Treatment For Parkinsons #1 Cannabis/medicalmarijuana:
Cannabis, aka medical marijuana, is an incredibletreatment for Parkinsons disease. You can have a Parkinsons patient shakingviolently and uncontrollably, and yet within 30-40 minutes of self-administering with some cannabis, their symptoms will almost completely disappear. Watch this short 2minute video from Parkinsons sufferer, Ian Frizell, who shows you what he waslike before self-medicating with cannabis and then again after. The change is truly astonishing!;
Taylor French is another Parkinsons patient thatundergoes a remarkable transformation once he ingests what he calls nutritional vegetable extract . This guy has an advanced form ofParkinsons and is normally confined to a wheelchair with limited use of hisbody due to stiff and rigid muscles . But after ingestingsome cannabis hes able to walk, and incredibly, in his video he even getsinto his car and drives off down the road!
You can view it here
Elyse Del Francia also tells the story of her Parkinsonssuffering husband, and the time she decided to smother his morning pancakes withsome canabutter. She said
Within45 minutes of eating a pancake with marijuana on it, he stopped shaking. Thatwas my lightbulb moment. Thats when I knew that I was onto something thatwould relieve his pain and suffering, because its horrible, horrible, to haveParkinsons Disease and not have any relief. I feel that this is something thathelps so many people in so many ways with pain and suffering.;5
A Single Concussion May Increase Risk Of Parkinsons Disease
- Date:
- American Academy of Neurology
- Summary:
- People who have been diagnosed with a mild concussion, or mild traumatic brain injury, may have a 56 percent increased risk of developing Parkinsons disease.
People who have been diagnosed with a mild concussion, or mild traumatic brain injury, may have a 56 percent increased risk of developing Parkinsons disease, according to a study published in the April 18, 2018, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Previous research has shown a strong link between moderate to severe traumatic brain injury and an increased risk of developing Parkinsons disease but the research on mild traumatic brain injury has not been conclusive, said senior study author Kristine Yaffe, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco, the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. Our research looked a very large population of U.S. veterans who had experienced either mild, moderate or severe traumatic brain injury in an effort to find an answer to whether a mild traumatic brain injury can put someone at risk.
A total of 1,462 of the participants were diagnosed with Parkinsons disease at least one year and up to 12 years after the start of the study. The average time to diagnosis was 4.6 years.
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Information On Head Injuries Lifestyle And Sociodemographic Factors
We obtained information on head injuries, other medical history, lifestyle factors, and family history of PD in a structured telephone interview. Because of speaking difficulties or generally poor health, 568 study subjects responded to the questionnaire by mail only. All subjects were asked about all types of head injury before their diagnosis of PD, including head injuries that had caused loss of consciousness, subsequent amnesia, or memory problems, and hospitalization for their head injuries. The questionnaire also elicited information on lifetime tobacco use, caffeine intake, and alcohol consumption as well as educational background and family history of PD. A positive family history of PD was defined as having at least one first-degree relative with PD. We used the participants’ home municipality at the date of first hospital contact for PD to assess the degree of urbanization. The date of the first cardinal symptom noted on the medical records was used as the referent date for calculating exposure; controls were assigned the date of their respective case.
Even A Mild Head Injury Increases Risk For Parkinson’s Disease Veterans Study Shows
The researchers looked at veterans with a history of traumatic brain injury.
Even a mild head injury increases risk for Parkinson’s disease, veterans study shows
Even a mild head injury, commonly called a concussion, makes veterans more likely to get Parkinson’s disease later on in life, a new study shows. This is the same type of injury suffered by many Americans on the sports field or in a motor vehicle crash each year.
A group of 165,000 veterans with a history of traumatic brain injury were found to have a higher risk of Parkinson’s disease, compared to other veterans of the same age.
The link between severe head injury and Parkinson’s disease was already known, but the most important finding was that even mild head injuries can increase this risk. Half of the veterans in the study had only a mild head injury, and this group was 56 percent more likely to receive a Parkinsons diagnosis than those with no TBI. The risk increased more in those with a head injury classified as severe.
“This is the highest level of evidence so far to establish that this association is a real one and something to be taken seriously,” Dr. Raquel Gardner, the studys lead author and an assistant professor of neurology at University of California, San Francisco and the San Francisco VA Medical Center, told ABC News.
Overall, Parkinsons is still very rare.
What is the link?
About Parkinson’s disease
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Q What Are The Different Types Of Medicines Used To Treat Parkinsons Disease
A. Because the symptoms of Parkinsons disease are caused by a lack of dopamine in the brain, most drug treatments so-called antiparkinsonian medications are aimed at replacing dopamine, prolonging its action or acting like dopamine.
Levodopa, also known as L-dopa, is the most effective medication available, improving symptoms in more than 80 per cent of people within 6-8 weeks. Levodopa is converted into dopamine by nerve cells in the brain. To prevent it from being converted to dopamine before it reaches your brain, it needs to be given in combination with another medication . These combination medications are called Sinemet and Madopar, respectively.
Other medicines available for the treatment of Parkinsons disease include dopamine agonists, MAO-B inhibitors,;COMT inhibitors, anticholinergics;and amantadine. Although these medications are generally not as effective as levodopa, they do benefit some people. They are especially useful if levodopa is causing intolerable side effects or isnt controlling symptoms on its own. These medicines are often;used as initial therapy to control relatively mild symptoms, especially in younger patients.
A range of treatments is also available for non-motor symptoms such as depression, sleep problems, constipation and sexual dysfunction.
Study Links Severe Head Injury To Parkinsons Risk
Researchers only found an association, could not explain why connection might exist
HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, July 11, 2016 A traumatic brain injury with loss of consciousness may increase the risk of developing Parkinsons disease, new research suggests.
It could be that the head injury itself initiates a cascade of effects that ultimately lead to Parkinson disease, said lead researcher Dr. Paul Crane, a professor of medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle.
Or, Crane added, the head injury may not cause Parkinsons, but make it more difficult for people who have sustained a head injury to recover, adjust to or deal with the cascade of events leading to Parkinson disease that are separate from the head injury itself.
However, the study did not prove that a traumatic brain injury causes the risk of Parkinsons to rise.
Parkinsons disease is a chronic and progressive movement disorder that affects the central nervous system. Symptoms worsen with time. Nearly 1 million Americans have the disorder. The cause is unknown and there is no cure. But, there are treatment options such as medication and surgery to manage symptoms, according to the Parkinsons Disease Foundation.
Cranes team found that more than 1,500 suffered from dementia and 117 had Parkinsons disease.
The researchers did not find an association between head injury with loss of consciousness and increased risk for dementia, Crane said.
JAMA Neurology
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