What are the most common treatments for Parkinson’s disease?

06.08.09 / parkinson disease treatment / Author: Alex
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I’m doing a brochure for a health class I’m in and I want to list the most common treatments in brief sentences. Also, are there any lifestyle and/or nutritional changes this disease requires?

Also, what is the prognosis, and how do people with Parkinson’s usually cope with it?

Thanks a bunch!

Comments: 3

Mags // August 6th, 2009 - 8:41 am

There are several forms of treatment for Parkinson’s disease depending upon how close you live to neuro-motor disorder specialists, the stage of disease progression, how close you are to exercise, swim and massage therapy, yoga centers, the kind of support network (usually family) you have.

The most common treatment for PD in the western world is medication beginning with Sinemet (which by the way is often a mistake when prescribed right after diagnosis

Forced exercise therapy for PD has been found to be very effective in reducing the need or at least dosage of PD meds for reasons not fully determined byt probably because of endorphins and brain plasticity or may help to restore some chemical homeostasis.

Yoga is an excellent area of exercise to help with relaxation and stress relief, stretching, balance, breathing, harmony of body and spirit.

Swim and nautilus exercise are also very helpful in maintaining strength, flexibility, range of motion, balance.

Voice exercises with a trained, licensed therapist will help breathing, swallowing and speaking issues so common in PD.

Medical Massage therapy is a must for pain relief through muscle release and relaxation and strengthing the immune system. This must be performed by a certified massage therapist.

Nutrition should not be overlooked. A proper diet can not only weed out the harmful contributors to oxidative stress, it can also provide the deficient nutrients which may not be included in a PwP’s diet. Nutrition for PD can actually be very beneficial. As a matter of fact in India some PwPs have used Mucuna Puriens for thousands of years to replace dopamine naturally.
Here are several articles about nutrition:
http://parkinsonsfocustoday.blogspot.com/search?q=nutrition

Supplements and alternative therapy. You should take a look at the University of Maryland website for a broad impressive range of complementary treatments:
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/parkinsons-disease-000123.htm

Another area to consider is Parkinson’s depression. Clinical treatment at this point is often counselling with patient and patient and family. The goal is to restore some feeling of self worth. There are a number of medications to treat depression but many are contraindicated for PD. Trained personnel are important.

Lastly are occupational therapy and proper aids for the PwP. Getting dressed, brushing teeth, eating are things we take for granted. These can be very difficult for a PD patient. So your brochure needs to have occupational therapist who can teach the patient new ways to approach old tasks and now when it is time to direct them to the proper utensils, canes, walkers, whatever to assist them.

The prognosis is death but when that will occur can be years or decades from the diagnosis. There are several stages along the way and each one will require specialists who know about those stages, caregivers who can properly assist the patient and end stage facilities.
http://parkinsonsfocustoday.blogspot.com/2009/04/culture-changes-in-nursing-homes.html
Since most PD death is from aspiration pneumonia followed by falls, you can see why the exercise, voice exercise and nutrition are so important.

There is also DBS – deep brain stimulation a reality for many mid to later stage patients for whom medications no longer work or work well. There are improvements in the pipeline here as well as in less invasive surgeries.

There are no definitive diagnostic tests but the more training the medical staff has, the easier it is to achieve the correct diagnosis and the best course of therapy for the Parkinson’s patient on this difficult journey. But a brochure would stress that the trained medical staff is tracking all of the latest developments in diagnostics, treatments and cures.

Short version ideas:
Use the journey concept and go from there. The goal is Quality of Life as well as quantity of life. The stops along the way or the cars on the train (or whatever) can be the special areas of focus listed above. As the patient may have to add or change medications, that can be another car. If your actual design project is to promote a treatment facility, you could structure the cars to coordinate with the specialties offered. Your actual design can be a fold out in the format or shape of a train with each car another area of specialty or stage of the disease. How that is organized is up to you.
http://parkinsonsfocustoday.blogspot.com/search?q=journey

I can be reached through Yahoo Answers if you have questions and also through the site below.

chelse // August 6th, 2009 - 8:41 am

The common feature among these disorders is that the parts of the brain that are affected are part of the same system. The group of structures often entangled in these abnormalities includes the basal ganglia (a large cluster of cells that lie deep in the hemispheres of the brain). The anatomic and biochemical connections from the basal ganglia to other parts of the brain are extremely complex, and not fully understood. Although the actual weakness can develop in some pathological states involving the basal ganglia, most of these diseases affect an individual’s speed, quality and ease of movement.

busy lizzie // August 6th, 2009 - 8:41 am

look it up wikipedia that will give you all the info you need

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