Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that occurs when dopamine-producing neurons in the substantia nigra are damaged over time. Common symptoms include tremors, slow movement, rigidity, and impaired balance and coordination. While the majority of cases are idiopathic, some genetic and environmental factors are also implicated in the disease. Diagnosis involves PET scans and neurological exams, while treatment focuses on increasing dopamine signaling through medications like levodopa and dopamine agonists or surgical procedures like deep brain stimulation.
2. HISTORY
• Parkinson’s Disease (PD) was first described in detail by James
Parkinson in 1817 in “An Essay on the Shaking Palsey.”
• Onset typically between 50-60 years of age, and slowly
progresses with age.
3. • ~1 million people are living with Parkinson’s disease in U.S.
• This makes PD one of the most common brain disease, after
ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
4. FAMOUS FACES WITH PD
Michael J. Fox Muhammad Ali Pope John Paul II Katharine Hepburn
5. WHAT IS PARKINSON’S DISEASE?
• PD is a neurodegenerative disease in which
dopamine producing neurons, having a brain
structure called Substantia nigra are damaged
and die over time leading to a number of motor
problems and mental disabilities.
• Substantia nigra is a part of baso ganglia. Its
major function is to inhibit unwanted motor
activity.
6.
7. Contin…
• When a person intents to make a movement, this inhibition is
removed by the action of dopamine.
8. Contin…
• As dopaminergic neurons are progressively lost in PD patients, low
levels of dopamine make it harder to initiate voluntary movements.
19. TREATMENT
STRATEGY : INCREASE DOPAMINE SIGNALING
o LEVODOPA
– Most popular treatment
– Form of dopamine which is able to cross the BBB and can then be
metabolized to dopamine.
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21.
22. o AMANTADINE
Antiviral Medication
Increases DOPAMINE production (?)
o DOPAMINE AGONISTS
Stimulate DOPAMINE RECEPTORS
- Bromocriptine ERGOT (FUNGAL) DERIVATIVE
- Pramipexole
- Ropinirole NOT ERGOT
23. o COMT inhibitors (Catacholamine - o – methyl transferase)
o MAO-B inhibitors (Monoamine oxidase B)
25. SURGICAL OPTIONS
Surgical procedures are now available for specific patients who no
longer respond to drug treatments.
o DEEP BRAIN STIMULATION
- implant device, pacemaker-like unit
transmit impulses to electrodes placed
in subthalamic nucleus.
