“Your 35-year-old spouse has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease”. These words hit home when dealing with a spouse. Question’s start to fly with what Parkinson’s disease really entails. Like any other disease, each case is different from the next, but it all comes down to a gradual decrease in the range of muscle movement. When diagnosed, patients with PD have already lost and are still loosing nerve cells that produce dopamine and since dopamine helps control the movement of muscles it hinders the ability to regulate more and more movement over time. Parkinson’s disease is not just a gradual decrease in the range of muscle movement; it also creates problems with non-motor abilities. It creates symptoms of poor sleep, inability …show more content…
And ultimately, will Parkinson’s disease speed up time in a sense of the grim reaper coming much faster than wanted or expected before the diagnostic of having Parkinson’s disease? Even though those answers do not have definite “no” or “yes” answers, a family, spouse, or friend can plan for the worst and strive for the best outcomes for a person with Parkinson’s Disease. In a situation like this a case study was performed with a psychologist and a wife of a 35-year-old man who was just diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. The actions of the wife and her children are recorded for researching purposes: The psychologist meets the wife and kids for the first time. The wife tells the psychologist their situation, “ My 35-year-old husband has just been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and I have no idea on what to expect, do, or how to handle it.” The psychologist proceeds to inform the wife and her children about how, in time, the husband’s movement of his head to his feet will ceased to control them. Also the psychologist states that she will not be able to predict the future events that will occur, but she will be able to help cope with the difficulties they may face and develop coping strategies that are suitable for them as a family. With that incite in fresh in their minds they make another appointment. The psychologist and the family meet again, this time the husband is starting to show minor symptoms of having Parkinson’s
Frank calls his daughter on his cell phone stating that his wife gets upset when she sees phone numbers from his children on the landline caller ID. Frank is an 81-year-old widower who remarried 12 years ago. In the sixth year of marriage, Frank needed open-heart and bypass surgery, was diagnosed with spinal stenosis, peripheral neuropathy, and has pain that is difficult to manage. During this time, Frank’s personality changed insidiously from a lively conversationalist with many interests, to a somewhat solemn recluse with limited direct contact with his children and friends. Was this due to his change in health or due to the change in the dynamic of his marriage from husband and wife to elder patient and caregiver? Frank’s daughter is extremely upset by this phone call. Frank makes excuses for his wife’s behaviour, such as, “She is cranky because she doesn’t eat breakfast” or “I’m such a burden.” The daughter realizes that immediate action needs to be taken before the situation gets worse.
The article “Living with Parkinson’s and Looking for Relief”, written by Carla Gantz, was found in RDH magazine as a feature in the February 2013 volume on pages 34,36,38, and 95. It is about a dental hygienist, Carla Gantz, who develops Parkinson’s disease while still in practice, and the various ways she copes with the disease. Gantz had Parkinson’s disease that was only on her right side, hand, arm, and shoulder, classifying her as stage 1 Parkinson’s disease. She started off taking low doses of levodopa to help with her tremors, but as the disease progressed, the medications changed, and the doses increased. Her role as a dental hygienist was also affected as her disease progressed. She couldn’t administer local anesthesia, her manual dexterity with instruments became more difficult, and when polishing or scaling, her hand would come to a halt, a secondary motor symptom of Parkinson’s disease. She should break this “freeze” by allowing her left arm to lift up her right arm, but that only worked for so long. Five years after being diagnosed, Gantz had to give up her career because her tremors got worse and her medication increased; she was taking up to thirteen pills per day.
The story begins with the woman explaining to us that her husband is physician and he is treating her. She partly blames her not improving state on him “perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster. You see he does not believe I am sick!” (647) and she feels as though she cannot argue with him about her illness, “And what can one do? If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one-but temporary nervous depression-a slight hysterical tendency—what is one to do?”. (648) Even her own “brother is also a physician, and also of high standing, and he says the same thing.” (648) agrees she is fine.
The patient exhibited cues of overall withdrawal from daily activities, notably those he regularly enjoyed like “cooking for his girlfriend and caring for the house.”3 Along with the expressed concern from his children and the stated desire to no longer live. Sonja’s visual assessment of the gentleman appearing lost and confused standing in the hallway supported the patterns of depression. However, during her first visual glimpse of the elderly man in the hallway, Sonja noticed he was well groomed and dressed, which might not be typical of an individual with major depression who lacks the “motivation to do anything.”4 This cue was followed by his anxious voice combined with abnormal gait of stopping and shuffling his feet. These new visual and audible cues created a second hypothesis comparing the patterns Sonja had observed on a patient in the past. Through her interpretation of these new cues on examination and questioning the patient in greater detail, Sonja discovered that the source of the depression originates from the gentleman’s inability to adequately move around to perform daily activities to his standards. Interpreting these patterns as possibly the early stages of Parkinson’s disease, she referred him to the neurology department for further examination and her hypothesis was
Many may not know Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder in the world. This disease is most seen in the elderly starting at 62 years of age although, younger individuals can still have the disease it isn’t common. Parkinson’s make it difficult for its victims to carry out everyday activities that might have once been easy for them. As the disease progresses it makes it hard for the patient to do things like walk, stand, swallow and speak. A great deal of people don’t realize how helpful therapy can be when dealing with such disease!
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive disorder of the central Nervous system and affects both motor and nonmotor functions. parkinson 's is caused by a chemical imbalance within the brain. The brain produces a neurotransmitter called dopamine in the basal ganglia, which is structures linked to the thalamus in the base of the brain. If the Dopamine, Basal ganglia and Thalamus does not function properly then causes major damage,. A person having less and less dopamine, the individual has less and less ability to regulate their movements, body and emotions. Although there is no current cure available for Parkinson’s disease, the debilitating conditions can be lessoned through education, therapy, and a variety of treatments to improve their quality of life on the National Parkinson Foundation website.
This paper is an in depth examination of a family and their experiences involving a loved ones, further referred to as R.M., diagnosis with early onset Parkinson’s disease. The information for this paper was gathered through three unstructured interviews, with three different family members, taken independently over several days. These interviews revealed the family’s developmental life cycle stage over many years, the illness narratives from three different perspectives, and the effects of this illness on each of the different family members. K.M., R.M.’s daughter, experienced the greatest impact from her father’s diagnosis with early onset Parkinson’s disease. L.M., K.M.’s husband, offered the perspective from a non immediate family member who struggled with the effects that R.M.’s disease had on his wife, and the daunting task of watching the rapidly deteriorating physical abilities of R.M. T.M., the son of K.M. and L.M., described his unique experiences of seeing his grandfather sick and the effects this had on him at such a young age. A genogram and ecomap are included in the paper to provide an illustrative representation of the relationships within the family, as well as the various systems that have had an impact on this illness experience, such as the family’s involvement with the health care system.
Situation- Devina has come in to hear her test results; from her car accident that she had last week, little does she know that she is going to be diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease…
Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease are two degenerative brain diseases that differ in their symptoms, causes, treatment, physical and biological indicators. Per Hooley et al. (2017), Parkinson’ disease is thought to be caused by an extended reduction of dopamine, which the absence of constrains normal neural impulses in the brain. After some time, movements such as tremors, stammered speech, diminished or unintentional body movements are demonstrated. Those that suffer from Parkinson’s disease often have an incapability to swallow and muscle stiffness that affects muscles in their faces with mental deterioration occurring as the disease progresses. Parkinson’s disease can be traced to gender and genetics and most of those affected are men that have a family history of the disease (APA, 2013). Treatment for Parkinson’s disease encompasses dopamine precursors to increase the presence of dopamine.
Parkinson's disease is a progressive degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that affects the motor system. It is marked by tremor at rest, muscular rigidity, postural instability, and slow, imprecise movement. The most obvious symptoms are movement related, which include; shaking, rigidity, slowness of movement, difficult with walking, balance, and gait. Other motor symptoms include: posture disturbances, such as a decrease in arm swing, a forward flexed posture, and the use of small steps when walking. Speech and swallowing disturbances are also common motor problems that can appear as well to a patient with Parkinson's disease. Young adults rarely experience Parkinson's disease because it is more common to affect
Not only does Parkinson’s take away your ability to control your muscles, it also affects the control of your mind. These non-motor symptoms cause disabilities as well as lower the health-related quality of life for patients who are affected (Chaudhuri, 2011). Developing neuropsychiatric and other non-motor symptoms is not uncommon. Depression, anxiety, reduced cognitive function, insomnia, fatigue, and autonomic disturbances have been found in these patients (Poewe). Dementia is another major concern when dealing with Parkinson’s patients. The incidence of dementia occurring is close to eighty percent (Parkinson’s, 2010). Risk factors for the development of dementia include
Parkinson's disease is very difficult for people to deal with on a daily basics. The Parkinson's disease video showed Dale's life with Parkinson's disease Parkinson's affected not only his life but his wife's life because he didn't want to go anywhere because of all the stares the public would give him, it made him feel like he was mentally off and they would feel sorry for him he didn't want anyone feeling sorry for him, so he decided to just stay at home every day all day and this was a concern to his wife because they wasn't able to do the things they used to do. He stayed in the house all day but even at the house he had limited things. He had to get his wife to do all the things for him life dress him, feed him,and give him his medicine..
For many 50 year olds, tasks such as writing or walking can be easily preformed without much attention. In fact, the term “task” seems to stress that there is a greater level of effort than is truly exerted in order for the average person to perform these actions. However, for a patient of Parkinson’s Disease who is diagnosed on average at the age of 50, these every day activities take a great deal of time, attention, and effort to be preformed (Huston). With the growth of research about this disease, a variety of treatment options ranging from medication to surgery are currently available to patients who suffer from the debilitating effects of Parkinson’s Disease.
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder in the world. Since an increasing number of people are reaching a high age, it is predicted that also the prevalence of Parkinson’s disease will be higher in the future. The symptoms of the disease are both motor symptoms like tremor and impairment of the gait, but along with that, psychological symptoms and memory loss are evident in many cases.
Parkinson's disease is neurodegenerative brain disorder that affects the brain and nervous system. When someone get Parkinson's it slowly develops in most people who get the disease. PD or Parkinson’s Disease affects people when they start to reach 60 years old. When a person is diagnosed with Parkinson's disease the brain slowly stops producing a neurotransmitter called dopamine. The less dopamine a person has the harder it is to control their abilities to regulate their emotions and body motions. Imagine not having any control of your hands, legs, arms, and emotions… heartbreaking. There is currently no cure for Parkinson's disease right now but with your help and donations made out to the michael J. Fox