This paper will address Parkinson’s disease, from the definition of the disease to the etiology, and pathophysiological process, clinical manifestations, and any diagnostic tests that go into determining if a patient will be diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
The second most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer disease is Parkinson’s disease (Rizek, P., Kumar, N., Jog, M., 2016, ¶1).
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that includes motor and non-motor features; in 2010, approximately 630,000 people in the U.S. were diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (Rezvanian, S., Lockhart, T., Frames, C., Soangra, R., Lieberman, A., 2018, ¶1).
Etiology and Risk Factors
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder. More men than women get the disease by a ratio of 1.0 to 1.5 (Rizek, P., Kumar, N., Jog, M., 2016, ¶1). Middle aged people, from the age of 55 to 65 years old are the most affected group by this crippling disease. While the exact cause of Parkinson’s disease is unknown, it is thought that there can be …show more content…
The most classic manifestation or symptom is a resting tremor that can be seen in one of the hands (Rizek, P., Kumar, N., Jog, M., 2016, ¶6). Other clinical manifestations include a soft voice (hypophonia), masked facies (initially presenting as reduced blink rate), small handwriting (micrographia), stiffness (rigidity), slowness of movements (bradykinesia), and shuffling steps and difficulty with balance (Rizek, P., Kumar, N., Jog, M., 2016, ¶6).
Diagnostics
Currently, there aren’t any diagnostics available to determine with absolute certainty that a patient has Parkinson’s disease. The only way to diagnose Parkinson’s is through the clinical manifestations that are present at the time of the doctor visit for the patient (Rizek, P., Kumar, N., Jog, M.,