Parkinsons Disease
Introduction
Parkinson’s disease is a common disease facing many older people across the world. It affects the central nervous system and it impairs cognitive processes, motor skills and other functions. This disease mostly affects the older generation and it manifests itself with symptoms which include rigidity, tremor, postural instability, slowness in movement and others. Other symptoms include sleep difficulties, sensory and autonomic dysfunction. Parkinson’s disease has a high prevalence rate among older people with approximately 500,000 people suffering from the disease in the United States. In addition, there are approximately 1 million people who suffer from the disease but they have not been diagnosed yet (Oxtoby et. al., 2004). This makes Parkinson’s disease a serious illness which requires urgent interventions by society.
Parkinson’s disease adversely affects the daily life of people suffering from it since it affects their cognitive processes or motor skills. This makes most patients rely on family and friends for survival. As a result, there are various programs which have been developed to cater for people suffering from the illness. This paper aims at analyzing Parkinson’s disease including statistics and effects on patients. Various programs which cater for patients suffering from the disease will be discussed and further interventions needed to reduce adverse effects on society recommended. The discussed issues will be summarized at the end.
Statistics, causality and treatment It has been stated that there are 500,000 people suffering from Parkinson’s disease in the United States and a further 1 million who have the disease but who have not been diagnosed yet. The disease kills an average of 14,000 people annually in the US. In the UK, approximately 1% of hospital consultations are for Parkinson’s disease and the mean age of patients diagnosed with the disease is 65. Globally, it is estimated that approximately 10 million
Parkinson’s disease is a common disease facing many older people across the world. It affects the central nervous system and it impairs cognitive processes, motor skills and other functions. This disease mostly affects the older generation and it manifests itself with symptoms which include rigidity, tremor, postural instability, slowness in movement and others. Other symptoms include sleep difficulties, sensory and autonomic dysfunction. Parkinson’s disease has a high prevalence rate among older people with approximately 500,000 people suffering from the disease in the United States. In addition, there are approximately 1 million people who suffer from the disease but they have not been diagnosed yet (Oxtoby et. al., 2004). This makes Parkinson’s disease a serious illness which requires urgent interventions by society.
Parkinson’s disease adversely affects the daily life of people suffering from it since it affects their cognitive processes or motor skills. This makes most patients rely on family and friends for survival. As a result, there are various programs which have been developed to cater for people suffering from the illness. This paper aims at analyzing Parkinson’s disease including statistics and effects on patients. Various programs which cater for patients suffering from the disease will be discussed and further interventions needed to reduce adverse effects on society recommended. The discussed issues will be summarized at the end.
Statistics, causality and treatment It has been stated that there are 500,000 people suffering from Parkinson’s disease in the United States and a further 1 million who have the disease but who have not been diagnosed yet. The disease kills an average of 14,000 people annually in the US. In the UK, approximately 1% of hospital consultations are for Parkinson’s disease and the mean age of patients diagnosed with the disease is 65. Globally, it is estimated that approximately 10 million