ON/OFF (TEASER) Young Onset Parkinson’s Disease

20.08.10 / parkinsons disease / Author: Alex
Tags: Disease, ON/OFF, Onset, parkinsons, TEASER, Young

PROJECT: ON/OFF Living & Coping with Young O nset Parkinson’s Disease Directed, produced, filmed, and edited by Tim Costello. THIS IS A SHORT, NON FINAL PRODCUT, USED AS A TEASER USED TO FIND THE FUNDING NEEDED, 000, TO FINISH THE PROJECT (ONE HOUR DOCUMENTARY). FINAL PROJECT WILL DOCUMENT 6 YOUNG ONSET “LIVING” VICE “SUFFERING” FROM PARKINSON’S DISEASE. FILMMAKER: Tim Costello PROJECT IDEA DEVOLOPED BY: TOM BERDINE SPONSOR/FUND SOURCE: TBD FACTS It is estim ated that 1.5 m illion Am ericans are currently diagnosed w ith Parkinson’s disease. 50000 to 60000 more are diagnosed each year. It is believed that 10% of these are under 49, w ith a good m ajority in their late teens, 20′s, 30′s, and 40′s. These individuals are graduating college, starting careers, relationships, families, and trying to build a future for themselves and their loved ones. These are referred to as being diagnosed as “young onset”. ABOUT THE PROJECT The film project is a documentary that will give the audience a front row seat into the normally private lives of six people diagnosed w ith young onset Parkinson’s disease. The film w ill be unscripted, real, at times humorous and other times shocking. It will show them living life as close to or better then before diagnosis. It will show them accommodating these symptoms and side effects despite the daily challenges thrown at them by the symptoms of the disease and side effects of the various medications.

The Repercussions of Parkinson’s Disease in Oral Health

An estimated 50,000 Americans are diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease each year. It generally affects people in their middle to late years. It is a kind of disorder that causes uncontrollable muscle movements, tremors, muscle rigidity and may even lead to severe memory loss. The patient’s speech and motors skills can also suffer.

Parkinson’s Disease is a degenerative disorder that affects the body’s nervous system which in turn is responsible for the relay of communication between the brain and the muscles. A disruption occurs in the nervous system that gravely affects reactions and movements of the muscles leading to such abnormalities as tremors and rigidity.

The disease usually starts to show symptoms with just a few individual muscle tremors. Sometimes it can manifest itself due to lack of muscle controls that are gradually visible to other people. This can be lack of facial expressions, mumbling sounds while talking, and even the non-movement of the arms while walking. These are simple symptoms that may usually mean the starting occurrence of Parkinson’s Disease.

A patient suffering from this disease may likewise suffer from very poor dental hygiene. While it is true that most people who have Parkinson’s Disease are already old and therefore no longer requires a set of perfect teeth, the fact remains that oral health is an important factor on the overall health condition of an individual. Therefore it is of high importance that people suffering from this disease still get the right amount of dental hygiene.

Because of the weakness of the muscles, a patient may not be able to brush his own teeth. As such, he may require the assistance of another person preferably from a well-trained professional like a caregiver. An expert assistance is necessary to make sure that the patient gets the best dental hygiene even for his condition. This may mean brushing the patient’s teeth, flossing them and administering any required medicines.

Another important point to consider is that some Parkinson’s Disease patients are prescribed to take drugs that can cause xerostomia. Xerostomia is more commonly called dry mouth. The saliva is an important component of a good oral hygiene as it helps clean the mouth by fighting off bacteria. Now, a person who suffers from xerostomia has higher risk of developing tooth decay, halitosis and other periodontal diseases and disorders. If you have constant dry mouth, your dentist can prescribe you with a medicine that can stimulate the production of more saliva as well as prescribing you with fluoride treatments to help battle tooth decay.

Also, due to the fact that Parkinson’s Disease patients may suffer from tremors, muscle rigidity and weakness, as well as feel agitated, it will be harder to keep him still in the dentist’s chair. This is very important because it makes it harder for the dentist to conduct the necessary dental procedures. Some form of equipment and contraptions may be used to keep the patient still. For much worse situations, the dentist may require to sedate his patient to avoid any unnecessary movements during the treatment.

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Question by Courtney: What is the genetic basis for Parkinson’s Disease?
I am currently working on a project for my biology class on parkinson’s disease. in one of the boxes i have to put the genetic basis for PD.
(for example, is it sex linked, controlled by one or multiple alleles, non disjunction, random mutation of a certain gene, etc.)
I can’t seem to find these answers anywhere.
Any answers or suggestions of sites would be great, thanks.

Best answer:

Answer by Mags
The jury is still out for the full genetic basis for PD.

The latest concept is that Parkinson’s disease is genetic and can remain dormant for generations. One reason that PD was not thought to be primarily or strictly genetic in nature was that sometimes many generations were skipped. It is possible that other factors have to act as the trigger. Environmental, medications, heavy metal exposure and the like.

I put the best link last but read down first as the expository info will be in the earlier links.

The first link is for two studies completed in 2008 by two researchers from the Mayo clinic where PD studies have been conducted for many years.

In one study a mutation of LRRK2-R1628P has been traced back to 2,500 BC. LRRK2-G2385R has been traced back 4,500 years.
Another study found that LRRK2-R1441C can increase the chances of developing PD by 10X.

http://www.scientistlive.com/European-Sc…

Next let’s go to the LRRK2 (leucine-rich repeat kinease2) autosomal dominant mutation which you can read about here for starters because it has been identified in almost 5% of PD cases:

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet…

There is a study currently recruiting for a LRRK2 study in Maryland:

http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00…

Glucocerebrosidase gene
GBA mutations (N370S, L444P, 84GG, IVS+1, V394L, and R496H) that are most common among Ashkenazi Jews

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur…

70117-0/abstract

and GBA-Gly2019SER here:

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/shor…

A study published in 2007 indicated that genetic mutations were 2X as common in YOPD (Young or early onset Parkinson’s Disease) and in people of Jewish Ancestry – specifically Ashkenazic)

Here is an abstract link about DJ-1, an autosomal recessive linked to PD. The abstract also references PARK6 and PARK7:

http://jnnp.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract…

The best gene data base is here – it is a public and you can link to the site to see it:

http://datam.i2r.a-star.edu.sg/mdpd/stat…

In this chart you will see the gene, the number of reports and ethnic groups
Naturally it begins with LRRK2. PARK2 followed by SNCA, CYP2D6, PINK1, MAPT, UCHL1, MAOB, PARK7 and APOE
It then lists the top 10 genes with the most variants followed by the top 10 with the most negative reports.
There are several other comparisons you can do at the site, it is amazing. Check it out.

While it is true that more men than women develop PD that may be because of a bioprotectiveness of estrogen. Which of course ends at sometime with menopause.

You should probably search for Chinese – HAN – gene – Parkinson’s disease. You might find the rest of the answer which you need. There are also several familial studies. I have read the abstracts but not the full studies.

Here are a few which should help:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12730996

Here’s a familial study from Italy but it is older, 2003:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12873854?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_Discovery_RA&linkpos=2&log$=relatedarticles&logdbfrom=pubmed

To properly search just enter each term with Parkinson’s disease and you will find a host of abstracts and some articles about the abstracts. You will not find definitive answers because they aren’t there yet. Pd is a complicated disease.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

Stretching for the Parkinson’s 5K Walk and Fun Run 2008


Image by gebl
(C)Gebl 2008