Health and You

Introduction
The Parkinson disease is found in millions of people all around the world. This disease is usually characterized by the degeneration of neurons present in the basal nuclei. These nuclei are responsible for the synthesis of neurotransmitter dopamine. As a result the dopamine levels decrease in the striatum. The effects thus arise include slow movements, inability to trigger the voluntary muscular actions, tremors, loss of balance and also rigidity.

What could be the possible causes?
The exact reason for the occurrence of Parkinson disease is unknown. Many believe that the disease could be due to the increased and frequent exposure to specific chemicals present in some of the pesticides and also in certain designer drugs. The disease can also arise due to frequent and severe injuries in a person. Due to this reason it has been said that professional boxers have an increased chance of acquiring the disease as they get frequent blows in the head. Injuries and chemical exposure may higher the formation of oxygen free radical rate that often leads to damaging of the brain tissue.

Genetics can help in a long way to find the cause of this disease. Genetic researchers have found a mutant gene which accounts for the disorder in many well analyzed large families. A protein known as alpha-synuclein is encoded by the gene. This protein is present in basal nuclei. During the abnormal condition improper folding of the protein happens. This may lead to the formation of deposits in the brain. There are some rare cases where the disease is inherited. In such cases the human genome project will identify the causative genes for the occurrence of the disease. This is also used to identify the genes that will enhance the risk of getting the disease.

What are the treatment techniques for the Parkinson disease?
Over the years the administration of levo-dopa is the standard procedure for treating the disease. This is nothing but a precursor to dopamine which is capable of passing through the blood brain barrier. In the brain levodopa once converted to dopamine cannot pass the barrier. But as a result of regular usage of levodopa, the brain increasingly turns out to be dependent on the external administration and thus the brain’s own generation of dopamine becomes lowered. Finally levo-dopa lessens the symptoms for some time. Another drug known as prampipexole is found to even out the dopamine supply by mimicking the dopamine action. This drug when given along with levo-dopa, the symptoms get improved and also found to lower the depression related with the Parkinson disease.

The experimental approach to treat the disease is the transplantation of fetal brain tissue into the brain of the Parkinson diseased person. This tissue produces the required dopamine. This treatment procedure went through lot of controversies.

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