6 Things to Know About Parkinson's Disease
Medically Reviewed By William C. Lloyd III, MD, FACS
Written By Elizabeth Hanes, RN on July 16, 2020
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Get the Facts About Parkinson’s DiseaseParkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that causes problems with coordination and movement. As a progressive disease, PD symptoms worsen with time, and some people develop dementia in addition to the characteristic movement problems. While no Parkinson’s cure yet exists, researchers continue to investigate new treatments that may eventually make PD a disease of the past. Learn the early signs of PD, how doctors diagnose Parkinson’s disease, and how gene therapy may lead to a cure.
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1. Parkinson’s disease can occur as early as age 21.Although most people with PD are diagnosed after 60, people as young as age 21 can develop the disease. The signs of early-onset Parkinson’s are the same as those in older people: slowness of movement, tremor, and muscle rigidity (stiffness). Because PD can run in families, any younger person who comes from a family with a history of Parkinson’s and who exhibits any of these signs should talk to a doctor for more information about Parkinson’s disease.
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2. No definitive test for Parkinson’s exists.Unlike some other diseases that can be detected through blood tests or imaging scans, no definitive test for Parkinson’s disease yet exists. Instead, doctors diagnose PD with a thorough medical and family history and a physical exam. If a patient exhibits at least two of the three hallmark signs of PD—tremor, muscle rigidity, slow movement—then a doctor will consider a PD diagnosis. Sometimes, to achieve a diagnosis, a doctor may start a patient on a Parkinson’s medicine to see how the person responds. If symptoms improve, then the doctor may diagnose the patient with PD.
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3. Researchers don’t yet know what causes Parkinson’s disease.Researchers continue to investigate what causes Parkinson’s disease. For 2019, the National Institutes of Health funded $224 million in PD research; there are also private sources of funding. As yet, the precise reasons why people develop the disorder remain unclear.
Scientists have identified mutations in a number of genes in people with PD, but what causes these mutations is not known. These gene mutations affect cell function in various ways, including making some cells unable to clean up waste products that may subsequently impair neurological functions. PD appears to be inheritable, so anyone with a family history of Parkinson’s should investigate their own possible signs of the disease. -
4. Parkinson’s disease can cause Parkinson’s dementia.People with PD often develop a type of dementia called Lewy body dementia, or LBD. However, LBD also can develop in people who do not have Parkinson’s. For clarity, the term LBD is used to refer to a specific subtype of dementia that develops in the absence of PD. “Parkinson’s dementia” is the term for people with PD who subsequently develop dementia. Lewy bodies are abnormal protein deposits that accumulate in the brain and cause problems with cognition and motor function. The precise relationship between Lewy bodies and PD is under investigation.
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5. Researchers investigate causes and treatments for Parkinson’s.Every year, thousands of researchers investigate a wide array of hypotheses related to PD in hopes of better understanding its causes and developing targeted treatments. Researchers currently are looking into the role of neuroinflammation in PD, the biology of gene mutations in PD, deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s, biomarkers that might lead to a definitive test for PD, and many other exciting angles that may ultimately lead to a cure for Parkinson’s disease.
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6. Gene therapy may ultimately deliver a cure for Parkinson’s.So-called “designer DNA” gene therapy involves creating lab-made pieces of DNA that can influence how real genes inside the body perform. In one test of designer DNA for PD, researchers induced Parkinson’s in mice. They then used a non-infectious virus to deliver the designer DNA segment to the mice’s midbrain. The repaired DNA successfully blocked production of a specific protein, which ultimately led to new nerve cell (neuron) growth. The mice that received the treatment experienced new growth of dopamine-producing neurons and lost all signs of PD and—a result that could eventually unlock a cure for Parkinson’s.
6 Things to Know About Parkinson's Disease