Ten Terms Every Parkinson’s Patient Should Be Familiar With

All those suffering from Parkinson’s, need to become familiar with a number of terms relating to their disease. Some terms relate to symptoms those suffering may or may not experience as the disease progresses, while others have to do with forms of treatment. The more a patient learns about this disease the better equipped he or she is to cope with what is to come.

The first term is bradykinesia. Bradykinesia is a gradual slowness of movement. This is a very common symptom of Parkinson’s disease. Often the simplest of daily tasks, such as bathing, dressing and brushing one’s teeth becomes more difficult to execute once bradykinesia sets in. This often goes hand in hand with akinesia (a total lack of movement) that develops in some patients. Some individuals experience bradykinesia in doing some things and akinesia in regard to others.

Rigidity of muscles is term number two and it is another very common manifestation of Parkinson’s disease. Stiffness and/or tightness can occur in many different parts of the body but when it is seen in the shoulders or lower back it is referred to as cogwheel rigidity. Cogwheel rigidity causes a jerky sensation to take place in muscles when the arms and/or legs are in rapid motion.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a surgical procedure for Parkinson’s that has been gaining in popularity over the past few years and is proving to be very effective. DBS is a risky surgical procedure that involves permanent electrodes being implanted in the areas of the brain where the dopamine neurons have died. Repeated pulses of electricity are administered in order to bring symptoms under control.

Term number four is dopamine agonist. These are drugs that mimic the actions of the chemical dopamine in the brain of Parkinson’s sufferers. A dopamine agonist provides an extra dose of dopamine to help improve conditions. The three most commonly prescribed dopamine agonists are Mirapex, Permax and Requip.

Dysarthia is verbal problems such as a weak, slow and/or less than coherent speech pattern that occur because of damaged muscles. Speech difficulties plague a great deal of Parkinson’s sufferers.

The on-off effect, term number six, occurs in relation to Parkinson’s patients who are undergoing levodopa treatment. In this case fluctuations take place to the patient’s level of mobility and often change with little or no warning. In other words, the patient could go from having a good (or on) response to a poor (or off) response.

The seventh term is parkinsonism which is the term used to describe the set of symptoms attributed to Parkinson’s patients- bradykinesia, rigidity, stooped posture, a shuffling gait (walking) and tremors. Some people use the term parkinsonism to describe the symptoms of Parkinson’s that can be traced back to a specific source, such as prolonged exposure to pesticides.

Range of motion, term number eight, refers to the extent that a joint will allow itself to go from being completely straightened to a bent position.

Tremors are the most commonly reported symptom of Parkinson’s disease. A tremor is a trembling or sense of shakiness of a limb that is most obvious when that part is not in motion. It is most often noted in hands. Tremors are broken down into three categories- action, postural and resting.

The tenth term is a phenomenon known as the wearing-off effect. The wearing-off effect, like the on-off effect, is related to levodopa treatment. The wearing-off effect takes place when a patient has been receiving levodopa on a long-term basis but it has become less effective with the passage of time.