Alzheimers and parkinsons

Parkinson’s disease is a shaking palsy, which is a slowly progressive hereditary degenerative disease.

Normally a diseased person feels constant stiffness in muscles. Patients usually ‘freeze’: sitting posture – “stone man” pose, “supplicant” while standing – arms bent at the elbows, hunched back, bowed head, legs slightly bent at the knees and hands are trembling (rocking-type “yes- yes “or” no-no “).

Often these patients have greasy skin, seizures, abdominal pain, drowsiness, anxiety, palpitations.
There are a lot of antiparkinsonian drugs, but almost all of them have many contraindications for various diseases, which occur amongst old people.

Therefore, drugs for Parkinson’s disease can only be used strictly under medical supervision, and according to their purpose. The patient who constantly takes antiparkinsonian drugs should be inspected by a neurologist at least one per 2 weeks.

The main way to fight Parkinson’s disease is activity. This is the main point that must be understood by the patients and their relatives.

Alongside the range of therapeutic agents and drugs, it is necessary to include biological stimulants: Siberian ginseng, Chinese magnolia vine.

The prognosis for treatment is generally favorable to life, to heal – doubtful.

Symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease:

At an early stage:

• Forgetfulness, inability to recall recent events, which gradually progresses
• Inability to recognize familiar objects
• Emotional problems, depression, anxiety
• Disorientation
• Apathy (indifference) to the surrounding objects, people and events.

At a later stage:

• Hallucinations, delusions
• The inability to recognize familiar people, even close relatives
• Problems with movement (walking)

patients are moving in the “shuffling gait”

• Loss of ability to think and move independently
• In some cases, seizures

Alzheimer’s disease is often talked about. It is a disease when certain systems of the brain cells (neurons) die which leads to the development of senile, or senile dementia (dementia).

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia that develops amongst the elderly and the senile age. The first symptoms may appear after 40, and after 70, the incidence reaches 30%.

This disease is more common amongst poorly educated people with unskilled occupations. A person with high intelligence is less likely to face the manifestations of Alzheimer’s disease for the reason that it has a greater number of connections between nerve cells.

The disease starts with increasing of memory impairment. Early stage may go unnoticed, as the person, facing the first symptoms of the disease, tries to hide them. Due to the increasing memory loss, the patient has a feeling of bewilderment and confusion. Gradually, the person ceases to be guided to the place and time, his memory loses the knowledge accumulated for years, experience, skills, and the events in his memory become more distant. It becomes harder to recognize form, color, people; sense of orientation in space is violated. This can affect, for example, the order and asymmetry of the handwriting; the letters pile up vertically in the center or in the corners of the page. It is becoming increasingly unclear.

Trembling hands and legs, slow movements; it is difficult to keep the body balance – this fact has been mentioned from ancient times, as the disease, which in 1817 had been described by James Parkinson.

Neurodegenerative diseases are the diseases caused by changes in the structure of the nervous tissue. The most famous of them are Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

American researchers for the first time were able to identify the relationship between gene mutation responsible for the access of potassium ions into cells, and neurodegenerative diseases.

Parkinson’s disease (Morbius Parkinson) is a chronic disease caused by metabolic disorders of epinephrine, norepinephrine and dopamine, and their ratio in the basal ganglia, especially in the medulla oblongata. The disease is characterizes by disorder of motor function, limb tremor, and stiffness of muscles. Later the scientists were able to detect the mutation of this gene in a French family with ataxia cerebral spinal of 13th type, leading to loss of coordination in childhood, as well as the degeneration of the cerebellum and moderate mental retardation.

The gene encodes a type of KCNC3 potassium channels, which in the normal state opens and closes very quickly. These channels are very important for the functioning of the so-called fast neurons “triggered” hundreds of times per second in our brain. Californian scientists say: “They are like building blocks and are used in many areas of the brain.” Alzheimer’s disease (presenile dementia) is a genetic disorder that develops in the second half of life. The brain protein is deposited in the form of “senile plaques” and the neurofibrillary tangles consist of damaged neurons. During the Alzheimer’s disease disappears memory gradually, patients loses the ability to read and no longer recognizes his/her loved ones. It is known, that the U.S. President Ronald Reagan suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.