Can Parkinson’s Disease Kill You

What Types Of Damages Can You Get In A Paraquat Lawsuit

A paraquat lawsuit can help you recover damages to make up for the injuries youve suffered. Personal injury lawsuits can reward economic and non-economic damages. That includes:

• Past and future medical bills based on the treatment you need
• Lost income and wages as a result of being unable to work for any period of time
• Pain and suffering and loss of consortium caused by your disability or condition
• Funeral expenses if youve lost a loved one because of paraquat

A Parkinsons disease diagnosis comes with significant costs. A civil lawsuit is the best way to make you whole under the law as if you were never exposed to paraquat. While monetary compensation cannot undo your diagnosis or disease, it can help you get the treatment you need so that you can take care of your health and live your life to the fullest.

Corporations that put dangerous products onto the market need to be held responsible for the damage and injuries that they cause. In the case of intentional, reckless, or malicious behavior, a court may even award punitive damages, which are meant to punish bad actors and discourage others from following their example.

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Do All Parkinsons Patients Develop Dementia

Although dementia is a hallmark of Alzheimers disease, dementia may occur in Parkinsons disease affecting approximately 70% of the patients.

Dementia describes a set of symptoms that cause is a significant loss in brain function. It produces a greater impact on patients on patients with Parkinsons than in Alzheimers patients as they have to deal with motor and cognitive impairment.

Alzheimers affect memory and language in general terms. Still, in Parkinsons, it affects problem-solving capacity, speed of thinking, memory, and they run with mild cognitive impairment.

Notably, Parkinsons disease dementia is a common thing among patients with this condition. The vast majority of them may experience some form of cognitive impairment over time.

Though it is a unique process for each person, several risk factors may lead to dementia symptoms and dementia itself.

• Increasing age.
• Exposure to psychological stress
• Low education level and low socioeconomic status

Disease duration has as well a direct correlation with the development of dementia on these patients. The more time the patient has this disease, the risk of developing dementia increases.

Also, Parkinsons dementia has a direct correlation with Lewy bodies. Most people develop dementia as a progression of the disease rather than having Parkinsons and Alzheimers. Nonetheless, a doctor with a neurology specialist should examine the patient to give an assertive diagnosis to the condition.

When Should I Call My Healthcare Provider

Reach out to your provider if trouble sleeping harms your quality of life. Always call your healthcare provider if you experience symptoms that worry you, especially if they could put you or those around you in danger.

Sometimes, a sleep disturbance could be a sign of depression related to Parkinson’s disease. If youve lost interest in activities you once loved or feel numb to whats going on in your life, reach out to a provider you trust. Some people feel better after starting a new medication or talking to someone about what theyre feeling. You dont have to feel like this.

A note from Cleveland Clinic

Researchers continue to study the sleep-Parkinsons disease relationship. Understanding more about how Parkinsons affects sleep may lead to earlier detection of Parkinsons disease and more effective treatments. Even now, you have plenty of options to treat sleep problems. Be open with your provider about any sleep issues youre having. Together, you can find a plan that improves your sleep as well as any other challenges Parkinsons disease may create in your life.

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The Neglected Side Of Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease may not be an epidemic, but it’s more common than you might think. Approximately 1,000,000 Americans suffer from the illness, with 60,000 new cases appearing each year in the United States alone.

This neurodegenerative disorder, which is both progressive and incurable, usually begins around age 60, so neurologists believe that its prevalence is likely to increase dramatically with the graying of the nation’s population. But Parkinson’s disease shouldn’t be thought of only as an affliction of old age it can also strike considerably earlier in life, a fact that has become well known through such prominent examples as Michael J. Fox and Muhammad Ali .

Figure 1. Although Parkinsons disease is normally an affliction of old age, it can strike considerably earlier in life. Three-time world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali , for example, was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease at the age of 42, just three years after his final fight. He is shown here in a 1965 match with Floyd Patterson.

How Is Parkinsons Disease Dementia Diagnosed

No single test can diagnose Parkinsons disease dementia. Instead, doctors rely on a series or combination of tests and indicators.

Your neurologist will likely diagnose you with Parkinsons and then track your progression. They may monitor you for signs of dementia. As you get older, your risk for Parkinsons dementia increases.

Your doctor is more likely to conduct regular testing to monitor your cognitive functions, memory recall, and mental health.

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Parkinsons Disease Is A Progressive Disorder

Parkinsons Disease is a slowly progressive neurodegenerative disorder that primarily affects movement and, in some cases, cognition. Individuals with PD may have a slightly shorter life span compared to healthy individuals of the same age group. According to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinsons Research, patients usually begin developing Parkinsons symptoms around age 60. Many people with PD live between 10 and 20 years after being diagnosed. However, a patients age and general health status factor into the accuracy of this estimate.

While there is no cure for Parkinsons disease, many patients are only mildly affected and need no treatment for several years after their initial diagnosis. However, PD is both chronic, meaning it persists over a long period of time, and progressive, meaning its symptoms grow worse over time. This progression occurs more quickly in some people than in others.

Pharmaceutical and surgical interventions can help manage some of the symptoms, like bradykinesia , rigidity or tremor , but not much can be done to slow the overall progression of the disease. Over time, shaking, which affects most PD patients, may begin to interfere with daily activities and ones quality of life.

What Are Lewy Bodies

The affected neurons of people with Parkinsons disease have been found to contain clumped proteins called Lewy bodies, but researchers arent yet sure why Lewy bodies form or what role they play in the disease.

Lewy bodies are clumps of a protein called alpha-synuclein . Neurons cant break down these protein clumps, which may lead to the death of these cells.

Some other theories about what causes the death of brain cells in people with Parkinsons disease include free radical damage, inflammation, or toxins.

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How Is Parkinson Disease Treated

Parkinson disease can’t be cured. But there are different therapies that can help control symptoms. Many of the medicines used to treat Parkinson disease help to offset the loss of the chemical dopamine in the brain. Most of these medicines help manage symptoms quite successfully.

A procedure called deep brain stimulation may also be used to treat Parkinson disease. It sends electrical impulses into the brain to help control tremors and twitching movements. Some people may need surgery to manage Parkinson disease symptoms. Surgery may involve destroying small areas of brain tissue responsible for the symptoms. However, these surgeries are rarely done since deep brain stimulation is now available.

Whats The Relationship Between Parkinsons And Sleep

Parkinsons disease and sleep are connected in complex ways that not even scientists completely understand quite yet.

Sometimes, Parkinsons disease directly causes sleep problems. According to one study, sleep-related symptoms may be one of the earliest signs of Parkinsons disease. These signs may include things like thrashing while youre asleep.

Other factors can also play a role. One thing is clear: For many people with Parkinsons disease, a restful nights sleep can be hard to find.

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A Sign Of Things To Come

Considerable evidence now suggests that the earliest symptoms of Parkinson’s disease may be nondopaminergic ones. Support for this possibility comes from the work of Heiko Braak at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt. In 2003 he and his colleagues carried out postmortem examinations of the brains of elderly people to determine the distribution of Lewy bodies and Lewyneurites . Based on his results he believed that the pathological changes in brains of patients with Parkinson’s disease begin in the olfactory regions and the lower brain stem and then spread to involve the more classic dopaminergic areas in the midbrain . In the final stage, pathologic changes are found diffusely throughout the cerebral cortex, likely accounting for the dementia that so frequently accompanies motor impairments. That is, he argued that nondopaminergic regions are affected before dopaminergic ones.

Figure 7. Postmortem studies suggest that neural degeneration progresses systematically in Parkinson’s disease. The first portion of the brain affected appears to be in the brain stem . Later , degeneration expands to include the substantia nigra , the striatum and other portions of the mid-brain . In its later stages , the disease begins also to compromise portions of the cerebral cortex .

Figure 8. Although they are largely unappreciated by physicians, many nonmotor symptoms arise in patients with Parkinson’s disease.

Barbara Aulicino

Research Is Underway To Further Understand The Cardiac Effects Of Parkinsons

It is possible to image the sympathetic nervous system of the human heart by injecting a radioactive tracer, meta-iodo-benzyl-guanidine, . Development of this technique, known as MIBG cardiac imaging, holds much promise as a test to confirm the diagnosis of PD , to identify those who are at risk of developing PD in the future, and to distinguish PD from related disorders. MIBG cardiac imaging is still considered an experimental procedure for detection of PD and is not yet in use as a clinical tool for this purpose.

A recent research study was conducted in monkeys in which the destruction of the sympathetic nerves of the heart was chemically induced to mimic the changes that are seen in PD. The cardiac system was then imaged using a number of new-generation radioactive tracers, which bind to markers of inflammation and oxidative stress. This model system may help to shed light on the molecular changes that accompany the loss of the sympathetic nerves of the heart and can also be used to track the response of the cardiac system to therapeutic agents.

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Environmental Factors And Exposures

Exposure to pesticides and a history of head injury have each been linked with PD, but the risks are modest. Never having smoked cigarettes, and never drinking caffeinated beverages, are also associated with small increases in risk of developing PD.

Low concentrations of urate in the blood is associated with an increased risk of PD.

Drug-induced parkinsonism

Different medical drugs have been implicated in cases of parkinsonism. Drug-induced parkinsonism is normally reversible by stopping the offending agent. Drugs include:

• Phenothiazines

What Makes Pd Hard To Predict

Parkinsonâs comes with two main buckets of possible symptoms. One affects your ability to move and leads to motor issues like tremors and rigid muscles. The other bucket has non-motor symptoms, like pain, loss of smell, and dementia.

You may not get all the symptoms. And you canât predict how bad theyâll be, or how fast theyâll get worse. One person may have slight tremors but severe dementia. Another might have major tremors but no issues with thinking or memory. And someone else may have severe symptoms all around.

On top of that, the drugs that treat Parkinsonâs work better for some people than others. All that adds up to a disease thatâs very hard to predict.

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How Are Sleep Problems Treated In People With Parkinsons Disease

Your provider will recommend treatments that address whats causing your sleeping challenges. Your provider may:

• Change your medication: If a medication could be causing your sleep issues, your provider may decide to adjust your treatment plan. Reducing the dose or switching medicines may solve the problem.
• Prescribe a new medication or therapy: If you have a sleep disorder, your provider will discuss your options. In some cases, your provider may recommend a new medication. If you have sleep apnea, wearing a special oral appliance can help. The device enables you to get a steady flow of oxygen, so your body doesnt gasp for air.
• Suggest lifestyle changes: Your daily habits and sleeping environment can help or hurt your sleep efforts. Setting regular sleep and wake times, keeping the room dark and avoiding electronic screens at bedtime may improve how well you sleep. If you have REM sleep disorder, your provider will discuss options for how best to protect you while you sleep.

How Does Parkinsons Kill You

Most of the patients that have Parkinsons disease do not die specifically from it. Please, allow me to explain better.

As it is an affection that compromises several organs, it may trigger inadequate responses in each one of them. Nonetheless, the same diseases that cause death on healthy patients cause death on these patients.

Parkinsons patients can die from heart attacks, strokes, cancer, among other causes. Still, two specific causes are very common in these patients.

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Progression Of The Parkinsons Disease

Due to the uniqueness of displaying the symptoms at a different rate, Parkinsons disease acquires the name boutique disease. It changes from one to another and makes it difficult for the physician to detect the signs in the early stages. Alternatively, it is not probable to predict the occurrence, how, or when the symptoms occur. The progression of the symptoms take broad paths, and many of them have similarities associated with other health conditions, making it further critical to point the stage of Parkinsons disease. It becomes frightening to see further definite signs that appear along the path.

Outside The Realm Of Dopamine

Unfortunately, levodopa therapy doesn’t satisfactorily control many clinical aspects of Parkinson’s disease, presumably because they result from degeneration of nondopaminergic parts of the nervous system.

Figure 4. Tissues taken from the substantia nigra pars compacta normally show a high density of dark-colored nerve cells under microscopic inspection . But people with Parkinsons disease experience extensive loss of such pigmented neurons . An enlarged view of one of the surviving neurons reveals a Lewy body , an inclusion within the cell containing dysfunctional protein masses.

Researchers are discovering that the pathology of the disease is far more extensive than their predecessors initially appreciated and is not restricted to dopaminergic nerve cells in the substantia nigra pars compacta. Indeed, they have identified signs of neurodegeneration with the development of Lewy bodies in nondopaminergic regions of the brain, the spinal cord and the peripheral nervous system, which use a variety of different neurotransmitters . Strangely, some regions of the brain can suffer profound nerve-cell loss with Lewy-body formation, while neighboring areas are completely spared, indicating that some as-yet-unknown factors make only certain nerve cells vulnerable to degeneration in Parkinson’s disease.

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What Are The Symptoms Of Parkinson Disease

Parkinson disease symptoms usually start out mild, and then progressively get much worse. The first signs are often so subtle that many people don’t seek medical attention at first. These are common symptoms of Parkinson disease:

• Tremors that affect the face and jaw, legs, arms, and hands
• Slow, stiff walking

Living Well With Parkinson’s

While medication and DBS surgery are the most effective treatments for PD, individuals often choose to delay these treatments because of their adverse side effects. Until a therapy is developed that can halt the progression of PD, there is a significant need for strategies that provide symptom relief without causing negative side effects.

Diet, Exercise, and Stress Reduction

Findings from several studies suggest that exercise has the potential to provide relief from certain PD symptoms. Anecdotally, people with Parkinsons disease who exercise typically do better. However, many questions remain. Among them is whether exercise provides a conditioning effect by strengthening muscles and improving flexibility or whether it has a direct effect on the brain.

In an NINDS-funded trial comparing the benefits of tai chi, resistance training, and stretching, tai chi was found to reduce balance impairments in people with mild-to-moderate PD. People in the tai chi group also experienced significantly fewer falls and greater improvements in their functional capacity.

Technologies that Improve Quality of Life

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