Articles Posted in Parkinsons Disease

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April is Parkinson’s Awareness month.  Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder with a variety of motor function impairment symptoms such as tremors, rigidity and mobility problems.  Other symptoms may be apathy, depression, sleep problems, loss of smell and cognitive impairment.  There is no known cure and treatment options vary.

Advancements in medical technologies have improved in medications to delay the worsening of symptoms. Doctors have also experimented with surgeries that can control erratic brain impulses. Surgeries, like deep brain stimulation, for instance, involve the placing of electrodes to block the abnormal brain activity that is responsible for generating symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.

Most Parkinson’s disease sufferers will be above the age of 60, but in recent years, medical scientists have confirmed that Parkinson’s disease can strike at any age.  Young persons are not immune to the disease.

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New studies find that that there is a possible relationship between flu and the onset of Parkinson’s disease.

The research was published recently in the JAMA Neurology journal, and suggests that the onset of Parkinson’s disease could be triggered by an infection like viral influenza. As part of the study, the researchers went through medical records between 1977 and 2016, and found that there was a correlation between a diagnosis of influenza and the onset of Parkinson’s disease about a decade later.

The records of more than 60,000 people were analysed, and out of these, the researchers found that more than 10,000 received a Parkinson’s diagnosis. The researchers found that people who had suffered from the flu were as much as 73% more likely to receive a Parkinson’s diagnosis a decade later, compared to people who had never suffered the flu.

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Persons who suffer from personality traits that are specifically linked to neuroticism, may be at a higher risk of suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

According to the results of a recent study, individuals who exhibit characteristics closer to neuroticism on the personality scale, show higher levels of negative emotional states, and this could be place them at a higher risk of Parkinson’s disease. Neuroticism is one of the big 5 personality traits. Individuals, who score highly on this personality trait, are typically more susceptible to irritability, and mood swings.  They may be much more likely to worry or stress over problems and are much more likely, therefore, to feel the negative impact of stress.

Neuroticism has already been linked to a number of other conditions,  including Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.  It also places an individual at a higher risk of depression.  A new study finds that people who display characteristics of neuroticism, are as much as 80% more likely to suffer from Parkinson’s disease, compared to those who rank lower on the neuroticism scale. The risk continued to remain higher even after the researchers accounted for a number of other factors that could possibly affect the results, including the person’s medical history, age and smoking habits.

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For persons who are already suffering from a serious medical condition and are on disability, coping with the pandemic has been a serious challenge. Persons suffering from Parkinson’s disease have been no exception.

According to new research data released by the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, even when Parkinson’s disease patients were able to avoid infections, they suffered from the lack of access to medical services, physical therapy and social activities.

In many cases, patients found their medicine supply disrupted. Some medications have been more difficult to procure during the pandemic. In other cases, patients found that the restrictions on travel made it difficult for them to receive home care because caregivers were unable to travel.  As hospitals became overwhelmed with Covid-19 cases, and non- essential medical services got disrupted, many Parkinson’s disease patients also found it difficult to keep up with treatments as appointments were cancelled.

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Parkinson’s disease is a neurological disorder, which affects motor functioning. The symptoms include shaking (tremors), rigidity of muscles, difficulty speaking, problems walking, and depression. Depression occurs as a direct result of Parkinson’s in 80% of those with the disorder.  While some of those suffering with this disease initially have relatively mild symptoms, which slowly progress over time, others degenerate rapidly.

Parkinson’s is currently not included under the Compassionate Allowance program, meaning that being diagnosed with Parkinson’s does not guarantee that you will win your disability benefits case. Thus, those with Parkinson’s must prove that their condition hinders them from doing any work they have done in the past 15 years or in another job for which they could be reasonably trained. It is generally not difficult for those with Parkinson’s to prove that they could not train for new employment. However, it can be more complicated to prove that you cannot do work you have previously done, depending on your prior work.

If you or a loved one is suffering from Parkinson’s disease, contact this law firm for a free consultation on your eligibility for disability benefits. 

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A drug used to treat patients who suffer from diabetes may have the unexpected side effect of helping reduce early symptoms in persons who suffer from Parkinson’s disease.

Researchers at the University College London recently found that the drug exenatide, which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved in 2005 for the treatment of diabetes, also may benefit persons with Parkinson’s disease. Researchers studied the effects of the drug on diabetic patients as compared to a control group that was on a placebo. They found that the diabetic patients who were on the drug showed better motor function after treatment. Patients on the drug showed reduced signs of decline, compared to those on the placebo.

The study only included a limited number of participants, and the researchers acknowledged that larger group samples may further confirm the findings of the study.

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According to a new study, one of the side effects of medications commonly prescribed for patients with Parkinson’s disease is a problem with impulse control.

Impulse control disorders are characterized by the individual’s inability to resist impulses or temptations to engage in acts that have the potential to cause harm to him or others. Pathological gambling is an example.  Hypersexuality or sexual addiction is another. In other cases, people may shop excessively or binge eat.

The study, which appeared in the journal Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, found that 14 percent of persons who suffer from Parkinson’s disease experience at least one such side effect. Parkinson’s disease drugs that are specifically linked to such impulse control disorders are pramipexole and ropinirole. These are drugs that are often used to control symptoms of Parkinson’s disease like uncontrollable tremors.

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Scientists at Cambridge University’s Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research have announced the identification of a compound that they believe can help reverse the toxicity found in central nervous system cells of a person suffering from Parkinson’s Disease.

The results of the research were published recently in the journal Science, with scientists cautioning that there is still a lot of work to be done. The results are very preliminary, and the study is still in its early stages. In fact, the scientists are not even using the word “drug” to refer to the molecule that they identified while analyzing more than 200,000 compounds. In other words, it will still be a long while before the molecule is actually converted into an ingredient that human beings who suffer from Parkinson’s Disease can take safely.

The molecule was tested on persons who suffer from a form of Parkinson’s Disease. The scientists created stem cells from the samples, and from those stem cells, they generated neurons that are affected in a person who suffers from Parkinson’s. They found that the special molecule managed to reverse the signs of disease in nerve cells. The researchers say that they will now focus on modifying the compound, so that they can move on to the next stage, which is testing in animals.

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Often, Atlanta disability benefits lawyers come across persons who suffer from symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, and want to know if they are eligible for Social Security disability benefits.

Parkinson’s disease is a degenerative disease, which means that the symptoms get progressively worse over a period of time. The most commonly known symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are tremors and shaking, but there are a number of other symptoms that can also worsen as the disease progresses. For Instance, the person may suffer from muscular stiffness, difficulty in coordination, difficultly balancing, slow movements, and slurred speech. As the disease progresses, the person may even suffer from dementia.

Parkinsons Disease.jpgThe symptoms may seem minor during the beginning stages of the disease, but will get progressively worse, and can dramatically impact the person’s ability to earn an income.

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