Living with Parkinson's Disease

As a child, I remember my grandfather having Parkinson's disease. He was so slow to move, and I just wanted to push him along. I didn't understand why he couldn't move normally, nor could he stop shaking all over. I remember he drank his tea from a saucer because he could not hold onto a cup and bring it to his mouth. He eventually came to the point in his disease that he could no longer speak. He died of complications of the disease in the late 1970s. I still miss my "Gramps". For family members, it is difficult to accept that you are losing your loved one little by little each day.

Parkinson's disease is a chronic condition that is characterized by tremors of the head, jaw and hands, as well as the arms and legs. Associated with it is a condition called bradykinesia, which is the name for the "slow motion" movement. As time progresses the condition worsens, and the sufferer will have problems walking and even talking. There is a rigidity to the muscles that causes much difficulty in movement.

How does Parkinson's disease occur?

Researchers have found that in some cases a genetic mutation causes nerve cells in the brain to become impaired. In the healthy brain a neurotransmitter called dopamine is produced. Dopamine is responsible for transmitting signals in certain parts of the brain that act as relay stations that conduct nerve impulses to control motor activity in the body.
When dopamine is absent or in low supply, nerve function is impaired. The impulses are not received or transmitted properly causing impaired movement, because the synapses or relay stations are not functioning properly.

Researchers have also found a connection between dopamine and another neurotransmitter, norepinephrine, which helps to explain what is happening within the nervous system of someone with Parkinson's disease.

People with Parkinson's have a loss of nerve endings that produce norepinephrine, which together with dopamine are the main chemical messengers that tell the autonomic nervous system (ANS) what to do. The ANS controls the functions of the body that we don't have to think about, such as breathing and blood pressure regulation.