Parkinson’s Disease
- Aspiring Doctors
- Oct 2, 2020
- 3 min read
Written By: Renusree
Edited By: Harneet
What is Parkinson’s Disease at the microscopic level?
It is a progressive neurogenerative disease that greatly affects one’s coordination. A portion of our brain, the Substantia Nigra, is part of the crucial dopamine pathway network that facilitates movement. With Parkinson’s Disease, the dopamine neurons gradually die off, and the pathway malfunctions, thus leading to a loss of motor skills.
When misfolding of a type of protein, alpha-synuclein, accumulates in the brain, Lewy Bodies form. These Lewy Bodies affect chemicals in the brain, mostly dopamine by killing off neurons. When neurons are killed, symptoms get worse and motor skills slowly die off. Normally, humans have a multitude of protein degenerative machinery to get rid of nonfunctional or harmful proteins. However, for a patient with Parkinson’s, their system is overwhelmed with the number of harmful proteins it must get rid of. This is a driving factor as to why alpha-synuclein can’t be easily removed.
Mitochondria, cells which travel through our body to provide us with the energy we need to survive, are also affected by Parkinson’s. Mutations in the mitochondria limit their ability to travel around the body, and thus inhibits them from providing energy. Normally, as mitochondria become old and damaged, the body’s recycling system replaces them with new mitochondria. However, with Parkinson’s the body’s recycling system is overwhelmed, leaving malfunctioning mitochondria in the body to accumulate.
Common symptoms of Parkinson’s caused by low levels of dopamine:
Tremors
In simple terms, tremors are where the body starts to shake uncontrollably while at rest. Commonly starting in one hand or foot, it gradually gets worse by affecting other areas of the body such as the jaw, chin, and tongue. This occurs because of a lack of dopamine which limits voluntary movement, causing involuntary movements such as tremors to take place.
Psychosis
Psychosis is a common symptom of Parkinson’s where patients start to hallucinate and lose sense of reality. In the early stages of psychosis, patients start to hear, taste, and feel things that are nowhere to be seen. This gradually worsens when some patients start to say that they have superpowers and hallucinate/have delusional thoughts during the daytime.
Bradykinesia
Bradykinesia is a symptom that results in slow movement in various muscles in the body. It causes difficulty in everyday tasks such as brushing teeth, showering, and even buttoning up a shirt or tying a shoe lace. A common medication that is given to fight bradykinesia is Levodapa because of its ability to control the movement. Research has shown that in addition to medication, music and exercise can also reduce the severity of Bradykinesia.
Possible treatments for Parkinson’s to reduce severity:
Dopamine Replacement:
Drugs, such as Mirapex and Neupro, are artificial dopamine providers that try to boost motor coordination in those with Parkinson’s. However, as time progresses, these artificial drugs get less effective, thus a higher dosage is needed to produce the same effect.
Deep brain stimulation:
This treatment is very similar to a heart pacemaker and it is recommended for patients who are not getting minimal relief from medications. Surgery is needed to implant permanent electrodes into the brain, which provides signals to facilitate movement. The electrodes are attached to a simulator, which stimulates brain activity by providing electrical impulses. Although this treatment isn’t a permanent solution to demolish Parkinson’s, it is definitely one step further. Deep Brain Stimulation offers relief to some of the most painful symptoms including sharp burning pain and restlessness.
Sources:
Christensen, Jackie. “Does Parkinson's Hurt?” Parkinson's Foundation, 16 Oct. 2016, www.parkinson.org/Living-with-Parkinsons/Managing-Parkinsons/Advice-for-the-Newly-Diagnosed/Does-Parkinsons-Hurt
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MD, Bethesda. “Parkinson's Disease | PD.” MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 29 Nov. 2019, medlineplus.gov/parkinsonsdisease.html.
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