[의학신문·일간보사=이승덕 기자]It was emphasized that Parkinson’s disease, which occurs mainly in the elderly, can lead to normal daily life with drug treatment and appropriate exercise from the beginning.
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On the 8th, Professor Ji-eun Lee of the Department of Neurology at National Health Insurance Ilsan Hospital unveiled a health column on the subject of’The causes, symptoms, and treatments of Parkinson’s disease’.
According to Professor Ji-eun Lee, Parkinson’s disease is accompanied by movement disorders such as tremor, stiffness, motor weakness, and gait disorders, and non-motor symptoms such as cognitive disorders, depression, hallucinations, and autonomic nervous disorders. It is a disease that increases the burden not only on the person but also on the family.
It occurs mainly in the elderly, and the risk of getting this disease increases as the age increases. Among the degenerative brain diseases that are associated with aging, Alzheimer’s is the second most representative disease suffered by Alzheimer’s.
Parkinson’s disease occurs when dopamine cells in a region called melanoma of the midbrain gradually decrease, and why these changes occur in melanin is still unknown.
About 15% of patients are caused by genetic causes, and there are results that are caused by environmental effects or toxic substances, but it is not yet clear enough to apply to all patients. When the obvious cause of the disease is not known, the term’idiopathic’ is used, and most of Parkinson’s disease falls into this idiopathic Parkinson’s disease.
Symptoms of Parkinson’s disease include motor symptoms and non-motor symptoms. Motor symptoms include slow motion, muscle stiffness, restless tremor, and postural instability. There are hypofunction, fatigue, impotence, dysphagia, and excessive salivation.
In Parkinson’s patients, motor symptoms appeared and these non-motor symptoms were a precursor to many years before they were diagnosed, but most of the patients could not think that these symptoms were related to Parkinson’s, so they could talk to themselves unless the patients were specifically asked about the symptoms. I often don’t do it well. Representative prognostic symptoms are REM sleep behavior disorder, loss of smell, constipation, urine disorder, orthostatic hypotension, daytime sleepiness and depression.
There are three methods of treatment for Parkinson’s disease that have been researched and developed so far: drug therapy, physical therapy, deep brain stimulation, and neurodestructive surgery. Parkinson’s disease can maintain a similar level of daily life as a normal person with only drug treatment and exercise in the early stage, and the treatment effect can be maximized only when the patient, guardian, and Parkinson’s specialist work together for proper drug treatment.
Physical therapy can help improve symptoms by increasing the amount of exercise by loosening stiff muscles and joints, and includes posture correction, gait training, breathing training, and speaking. In cases where it is difficult to take the drug due to side effects caused by the drug due to long drug administration, surgical treatment methods may be considered.
Parkinson’s disease prevention is still not known for sure, but in order to maintain an appropriate weight, it is good to eat evenly and maintain a regular diet.
Also, exercise is good for all neurodegenerative diseases, but it is one of the important treatments, especially in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. There are studies showing that exercise not only improves physical function but also improves the ability of dopamine cells to slow the progression. Therefore, depending on your condition and Parkinson’s disease stage, it is better to regularly do aerobic exercises such as walking, gymnastics and swimming, and exercises to improve balance and strengthen core muscles.