Download Parkinson`s Disease

FACT SHEET
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Parkinson’s Disease
“It’s like driving with the emergency brake on.” — Parkinson’s patient
Basic Information
♦ Parkinson’s disease is a complex, progressive and degenerative neurological disorder that causes
loss of control over body movements.
♦ Parkinson’s disease causes primary motor symptoms (see “Fact Sheet: Motor Symptoms of
Parkinson’s Disease” for more detailed information):
• Rigidity –– stiffness or inflexibility of the limbs and joints
• Bradykinesia/Akinesia –– slowness of movement/absence of movement
• Tremor –– involuntary, regular, rhythmic shaking of a limb, the head, mouth or tongue; or the
entire body
• Postural instability –– impaired balance and coordination
♦ The cause of Parkinson’s disease is unknown, and there is no cure.
• Symptoms arise when a small region of the brain called the substantia nigra, or “black
substance,” degenerates.
• Neurons (brain cells) in the substantia nigra die, depriving the brain of the chemical dopamine.
• Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that enables communication among the brain cells involved in
motor control.
• Reduced levels of dopamine lead to symptoms.
Key Statistics
♦ Parkinson’s disease afflicts an estimated 1 million Americans.
♦ The average age of onset for Parkinson’s disease is 60.
♦ “Young-onset” Parkinson’s disease may affect people between the ages of 20 and 40.
♦ Direct health-related expenses, indirect disability expenses and lost productivity in the United States
amount to $25 billion annually. *
♦ U.S. patients spend $1,000 to $6,000 per year on medications alone. *
* Michael J. Fox Foundation and the Parkinson’s Action Network
Impact on Quality of Life
♦ Many Parkinson’s patients describe themselves as prisoners within their own bodies.
♦ As Parkinson’s progresses, it becomes increasingly disabling, making routine daily activities like
bathing, dressing or eating without assistance from others difficult or impossible.
♦ Patients can experience extreme swings in movement control — from periods of virtually normal
motor function to episodes of complete immobility — in the span of a few hours.
♦ The disabling effects of Parkinson’s disease and the unpredictable onset of side effects from
treatment with the drug levodopa may cause many patients to become unwilling or unable to venture
outside their homes to work, shop, eat or socialize — everyday activities that most people take for
granted.
♦ The inability of some advanced Parkinson’s patients to care for themselves often leads to a loss of
dignity and self-esteem.
♦ In advanced Parkinson’s disease, some patients become wheelchair-bound or bedridden.
Distinct from Essential Tremor
♦ Essential Tremor is the most common movement disorder; Parkinson’s disease is the second most
common.
♦ Essential Tremor is defined as tremor that is not associated with Parkinson’s disease and is generally
characterized by a tremor of an arm or hand when it is in motion.
♦ While tremor is the most recognized symptom of Parkinson’s disease, it is rarely the most disabling
symptom because the tremor generally occurs when the affected limb is at rest. Only 5 percent of
Parkinson’s patients cite tremor as the primary cause of their disability.
♦ One way to help confirm a Parkinson’s diagnosis and rule out Essential Tremor is by evaluating a
patient’s response to levodopa.
Treatment Options
Drug Therapy
♦ Levodopa
• Introduced more than 30 years ago, levodopa is the current gold standard for the diagnosis and
treatment of Parkinson’s disease.
• The effectiveness of levodopa decreases after about four to five years, often resulting in
uncontrolled movements and/or motor fluctuations.
• After about five to 10 years, levodopa and similar drugs used to treat patients with advanced
stages of Parkinson’s disease begin to create unmanageable or intolerable side effects that are
often worse than the disease itself.
Surgical Therapies
♦ Deep brain stimulation (Activa Therapy)
• Implantable medical device, similar to a cardiac pacemaker, is used to deliver electrical
stimulation to precisely targeted area deep in the brain to treat symptoms.
• Stimulation is adjustable, and its effects are reversible.
♦ Pallidotomy – lesioning (surgical destruction) of specific cells of the brain’s globus pallidus
• Lesioning is irreversible.
• Benefits and side effects cannot be adjusted.
• The procedure cannot be performed bilaterally without the risk of serious consequences and/or
permanent side effects such as loss of speech.
♦ Brain tissue and cell implants – currently considered experimental.
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