Parkinsons Disease - the chances of a trembling body Essay -- Biology

Parkinson's Disease - the chances of a trembling body I have been closely following the news in the past months and I have noted a continuum in the coverage of the medical condition of one person who for many symbolizes the virtues of man, has been associated with the liberation of the minds of people under the communist era, has firmly supported the foundations of the Catholic faith and has been inspiration for many - the current Pope John Paul II. The newspaper photos of his almost expressionless face and the constant trembling hand which have started hindering his public activities and my deep respect to the his achievements made me look into the roots of the Parkinson's disease and its effects on behavior. Parkinson's disease, or the "shaking palsy" as first defined by Dr.Parkinson in the early 19th century, is defined as a disorder of the central nervous system, affecting about 2% of the world's population. It is more common among older people and there is a higher percentage of men affected by it. (1)Cells in the part of the brain that control movement are lost, causing sometimes severe difficulty in performing movements with a variable intensity depending on the individual cases(2) The widely recognized symptoms include muscular rigidity, resting tremors, bradykinesia, inconsistency of posture, dementia. All of these symptoms directly or indirectly affect the patient's behavior. The symptoms only appear after the death of 80% of the cells which produce dopamine. (4) The loss of dopamine causes the nerve cells of the basal ganglia to fire out of control, leaving patients unable to direct or control their movements in a normal manner. Thus, the early diagnosis is very hard, especially in the sporadic cases. Early symp... ...ynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro02/web2/www.parkinsoninfor.com 4) BBC Health News. , BBC News Agency with certain articles on current research http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/317413.stm 5) Research News. http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro02/web2/www.nhgri.nih.gov/DIR/LGDR/PARK/media_rel.html 6) Molecules of the Mind: Dreaming of Parkinson's. , interesting article http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro02/web2/www.medinfosource.com/mb/mb980212.html 7) The Parkinson's Institute http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro02/web2/www.parkinsoninstitute.org/movement_disorders/parkinsons.html 8) An Active Web Resource for Parkinson's Disease Information http://cgi.sapien.net/cgi-bin/parkinsonweb/news 9) An Online Support Group for Patients http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro02/web2/www.parkinson.org/denyingparkinson.htm