Parkinson's is a disease that when tackled early on, its progression can be slowed down considerably; compared with how it would progress without intervention. Parkinson treatment involves a few different angles, including prescription medication, therapy (whether medical or alternative) and sometimes surgery if it is required.
Prescription medication will often be the first port of call that a doctor or specialist will take for someone who has just been diagnosed with Parkinson's and even this is multi-faceted. The medication that a patient takes is designed to increase the uptake of dopamine in the brain, stimulate the parts of the brain that produce this neurotransmitter and block any enzymes and other neurotransmitters that make uptake or dopamine less effective. Why? Because people with Parkinson's are suffering from a lack of dopamine uptake within the brain. Dopamine allows messages from the brain travel through the nerves and cause voluntary movements. Because there is a lack of dopamine in the brain, movements become inhibited and more difficult as levels of this particular neurotransmitter decrease. The courses of medication that an individual takes as Parkinson treatment will not be the same as every other, because the causes of Parkinson's disease vary, as does the way in which it manifests due to individual physiological differences. Because of this it can sometimes take time to find a combination of drugs that work well to slow the progression and/or ease the symptoms of the condition.
Therapies can involve things like occupational therapy if a person is still in work and doesn't need to leave due to disability just yet. With many jobs managing the symptoms of Parkinson's disease is enough. Others include speech therapy, physiotherapy and consultations with a nutritionist who can develop an eating plan with the patient to include foods that have proven beneficial to Parkinson's sufferers.
Surgery as a Parkinson treatment is usually only used in extreme cases. At present there are just two types of surgery used for the condition; the first of which is lesioning. Lesioning is an irreversible procedure that involves inserting electrodes into various areas of the brain. These then damage certain cells that are responsible for the onset and progression of Parkinson's and can slow down any further progression. The second type of surgery can be reversed and is known as Deep Brain Stimulation (or DBS), involving the insertion of several electrodes on a wire which gives out electrical impulses to specific brain regions. The wire is attached to an impulse generator which must be inserted under the skin on the head and can be visible, especially in patients with less hair. While this is an effective Parkinson treatment, it does only treat the symptoms of the disease, rather than the root cause of it which is yet unknown.
For someone with a recent diagnosis of the disease there are lots of great quality Parkinson treatments available. Even though the cause(s) and a definitive cure have not been found yet, the outlook for a Parkinson's sufferer is good because of medications and therapies that can slow down the progression of the illness.
0 comments:
Post a Comment