After Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's disease is the second most frequent degenerative brain disease. It normally targets the people at older age but can strike you at any age. It happens due to the gradual degeneration of dopamine producing nerve cells in the mid brain that are mainly responsible for body movements. Ordinarily, this disease starts cropping up between the ages of 50 and 65 and is slightly more common in men than women.
What are the causes of Parkinson's Disease?
In majority of the cases, the cause of Parkinson's Disease is unknown. But most widely accepted cause of Parkinson's Disease is decline and decay of dopamine producing nerve cells. At times, a viral infection or exposure to environmental toxins viz. pesticides, carbon monoxide or metal manganese can also trigger Parkinson's Disease. Apart from these, some other factors are also responsible for triggering Parkinson's disease :
- Consumption of illegal drugs
- Stroke
- Recurring brain trauma
- Thyroid or Parathyroid Disorders
- Brain Tumor
What are the symptoms of Parkinson's Disease?
The symptoms of this disease are barely noticeable in the beginning. but as the disease progresses, the symptoms start getting worse. The most common and early symptom is tremor in one hand, especially when you are at rest. But as the disease start progressing, following symptoms may start developing:
- Shuffling gait along with poor arm swing, while walking
- Trailed off handwriting at the end of the sentence
- Unclear Speech
- Reduced eye- blinking
- Rigid facial muscles, resulting in minimum facial expression
- Stooped Posture
- Stiffness in the muscles of neck, trunk or shoulders
- Lethargic completion of daily activities like dressing, showering etc.
- Fatigue
- Depression
- Difficulty in rising from a sitting position
- Constant pin-rolling movement of thumb and fore finger
- In later stages, problems in swallowing also occurs
How a Physical Therapist can help in treating Parkinson's Disease?
Researches have shown that the patients with Parkinson's Disease can benefit from regular exercise. Regular exercising help to reduce stiffness of muscles and also improvise movements, posture, balance and gait. Physical therapists perform following exercises to cure the symptoms related with Parkinson's Disease :
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- Stretching Exercises : In Parkinson's Disease, the posture is flexed forward and this in turn reduces the flexibility of the muscles of the chest, shoulders and back muscles. Physical therapist practices exercises that help to correct your forward flexed posture by focusing on the opening of these anterior muscles.
- Strengthening Exercises : As the flexibility of the anterior body muscles gets decreased, the opposing back muscles also loss their strength; hence resulting in stooped posture. Physical therapists practice exercises to strengthen the weakened back muscles and to correct the stooped posture.
- Aerobics and Learning based Exercises : It includes the exercise that challenge you to change tempo, activity or direction. As the patients with Parkinson's Disease find it difficult to shift or shuffle from one activity to the another and as well to perform two activities simultaneously. These exercises are very helpful for such patients as these pose different challenges in front of them.
- Exercises Promoting Cardiopulmonary Fitness : It includes exercises like paced walking, hiking, swimming with different strokes, riding a stationery bicycle etc. These exercises enrich your cardiovascular endurance and strengthening.
Contact Accessible Physical Therapy Services for efficient treatment of any of the disabilities and symptoms associated with neurological disorders. Our physical therapists are trained at developing customized and well organized treatment plans according to the needs and requirements of our patients.
