Parkinson’s Disease By: Taylor Hawkins, Ana McGhee, and Morgan Zander

Parkinson’s Disease Alternate Names  Paralysis Agitans  Shaking Palsy How Name was Chosen  Doctor James Parkinson published an article titled “An essay on the Shaking Palsy”. The article was about the disease and notes he took from observing. 60 years later a neurologist named Jean Martin Charcot emphasized the importance of his work and named the disease after him. Who  James Parkinson  Jean Martin Charcot When was Parkinson’s discovered?  It was first discovered in AD 175 in India but it was only briefly detailed. It was in 1817 when James Parkinson published an article about it. Jean Martin Charcot later named the disease after him and calling it “Parkinson’s Disease”. Facts  Half a million people in the US have Parkinson’s Disease  Risk of development goes up with age The tulip is a symbol of Parkinson’s Disease.

Parkinson's  Parkinson's disease is a type of mental disorder.  Parkinson’s is a disease that effects the nerves. Its a chronic disorder and gets worse over time. Its unknown what the cause of the disease is. Parkinson disease involves a malfunction or death of nerve cells in the brain. It mostly effects nerves in the Substantia nigra. Some of the nerve cells produce dopamine as they die and it sends it to the part of the brain that deals with movement/coordination. When Parkinson's progresses, the dopamine produced decreases, and leaves the person unable to control their movement as they could before. One chromosome it could be in is the alpha-synuclein gene in chromosome 4, and another one is the parkin gene in chromosome 6. how its inherited  15% of people with Parkinson's disease have a family history of the disorder. It mostly occurs in people with no family history of the disorder. The patterns differ from family to family.

Symptoms of disorder The diagnosis of Parkinson's disease depends on their being one or more of the symptoms. There are motor, secondary motor, and non-motor symptoms. These symptoms differ from person to person. Motor symptoms  Resting tremor(shaking of a limb while at rest)  Rigidity-stiffness and inflexibility  70% of people with Parkinson's disease have a slight tremor in their hand or foot on one side of their body. It can happen less commonly in their jaw or face, the tremor in that region consists of shaking or oscillating movement  Bradykinesia- slow movement  Postural instability-unstable when standing upright Secondary motor symptoms  Freezing-hesitate when moving  Micrographia-shrinkage in writing size  Mask like expressions- persons face may appear less expressive than normal  Unwanted accelerations-movement too quickly Non-motor symptoms  Loss of sense of smell  Constipation  REM behavior disorder- sleep disorder  Mood disorders  Orthostatic hypertension

Effects of the disorder Some effects of Parkinson’s disease are:  Problems with weight and balance  Thinking, memory and behavioral problems  Light headedness  Difficulty speaking

Treatments  Can’t be cured but can be treated. Medicine's to Help  Carbidopa-levodopa  Carbidopa-levodopa infusion  Dopamine agonists  MAO-B inhibitors  Catechol-O-methyhransferase (COMT) inhibitors  Anticholinergics  Amantadine Gene Therapy Since February of this year gene therapy is currently being tested by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Diagnosis A diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease is based on medical history and a good neurological exam. Usually a family physician can give the diagnosis. Most people get an official diagnosis from a neurologist. There are no standard diagnosis tests for Parkinson’s. They base it on the findings of the neurological exam. The neurologist examines your arms for tremor, stiffness in the neck and other limbs, and the way you walk.

Prognosis of individual with Disorder The life expectancy for someone with Parkinson’s Disease is the same as someone without the disease; symptoms worsen over time. It impacts them in a way by slowly making them unable to control their body’s movements and it can be very progressive. It can even cause people to die, for instance, if their leg moves uncontrollably while walking down steps, they could fall and hurt themselves. The disorder affects everyone in the family. It can be very tiring. People with Parkinson’s need extra care to make sure they don't hurt themselves while doing things.

Current Research One of the foundations studying Parkinson’s is The National Parkinson foundation. Their research is helping to find better treatments. In addition to finding better ways to treat the symptoms, they eventually hope to find a cure for the disease.

Summary My uncle has Parkinson’s disease. For several years his hands had been shaking and his speech was sometimes difficult to understand. Last summer things started getting worse. In addition to the tremors, he had constipation and trouble swallowing food. After several trips to the emergency room and visits with different doctors, he was finally diagnosed in August with Parkinson’s disease. He currently takes two different medications, carbidopa-levodopa and amantadine. These drugs treat the symptoms of shakiness, stiffness, and difficulty moving. -Taylor Hawkins

Resources “Parkinson’s Disease History.” Parkinson’s Disease Information.23 June Web.25 Feb “Parkinson Disease.” Medine Plus.02 Feb.2016.Web.25 Feb Web Mayo Clinic Staff. “Diseases and Conditions Parkinson’s Disease.” Mayo Clinic.07 July 2015.Web.25 Feb McNarma,Patrick. “The Pace of Innovation in treatment of Parkinson’s Disease.” About Health.30 Dec Web. 25 Feb University of Pittsburgh. “Gene Therapy for Parkinson’s Disease to be tested.” Medical Press. 22 Feb “What is Parkinson’s Disease?” Parkinson’s disease foundation Web. 30 March “Symptoms” Parkinson's Disease foundation Web. 30 March Chein-Kuang Ding-Guest Lecture Duke University: Genetics Outreach- organization DRMS-location Feb