Parkinson’s disease is an interesting disorder that has many factors that contribute to its complexity. As most of us know, Parkinson’s is a well-publicized disease as there have been a few famous people that have brought a great deal of attention to raise awareness and funding to research it. Michael J. Fox has been a headliner in the battle to find a cure for Parkinson’s because he was diagnosed with it at such a young age. To his advantage, he has the ability to use his acting background to bring attention to the dire need of further research for this condition because there is not a cure.
One of the aspects of Parkinson’s that makes it so complex is the pathway in which it plays inhibits. The pathway that is affected is the motor movement pathway. This entire route of signaling involves several areas of the brain in which there is planning of the movement in the prefrontal cortex, the information from the prefrontal cortex is then used to activate the basal ganglia which is an enormous player in this pathway because it requires a great deal of dopamine to activate the next steps in the pathway. Much research supports the basal ganglia as being the problem location of the brain that has Parkinson’s because the neuronal cells require a great deal of dopamine to continue the signaling of the pathway. This essentially highlights one of the overarching issues of Parkinson’s disease because the main problem within the signaling cascade between neurons arises from an overall lack of Dopamine to use to excite the next cells down the line.
From the disorder of the motor controlling pathway, the common symptoms found can either be resting tremors of outer limbs to begin. Many patients come with a common symptom of a pill rolling tremor that looks exactly as it sounds. To give an example, think of when you were young and had to take a pill that looked way too big. So, what did you do? Most of us would imagine rolling it around between our thumb and index finger. This exact action is what a Parkinson’s patient would likely present with either in early or late stages of the disorder. Additionally, it is important to recognize that Parkinson’s is a developing disorder that begins in the external parts of our bodies as it may begin in our feet as well as our hands and slowly work its way around in the body. Also, coming from Parkinson’s as a symptom that contrasts the resting tremors is the inability to generate movements in various limbs. Another example that can be commonly seen with the failure to generate movement can be found with these patients being unable to make the first movements when it comes to walking. This too arises from the disorder of the motor movement generating area of our brains and it results from the motor cortex being unable to be stimulated.
*Insert Clever Title Regarding Parkinson’s Disease*
