For the past 24 years, World Parkinson’s Day has been celebrated every April 11 in commemoration of the British doctor James Parkinson, who first described the disease.
Parkinson’s is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s disease and, despite its high incidence, current treatment is almost exclusively symptomatic.
Dr. Campos Arillo, a leading specialist in Neurology and a reference in the field of movement disorders, points out that patients diagnosed with Parkinson’s are aware of the consequences of the degeneration of the substantia nigra (a brain substance related to movement) and its connections, developing a series of styptic symptoms such as: slowness, tremor and rigidity, among others.
Several researches indicate that neurological diseases are currently the main cause of disability.
To all this, the doctor points out that the causes of this disease are still unknown, although he suggests that it is probably due to the relationship between external (toxic, infectious and environmental) and internal (stress and anxiety) factors. In addition, the age and genetic predisposition of the patient are also elements to be taken into account, since in Spain only one of every 10 new cases diagnosed is under 50 years of age.
Tremor, depression or impulse control disorders are some of the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
In order to differentiate Parkinson’s disease from other diseases with similar symptoms, Dr. Campos Arillo points out that there are clinical parameters that help guide the medical specialist in its diagnosis and that, in controversial cases, functional neuroimaging scans can also be used.
Some of the most evident symptoms and signs that characterize the disease are rigidity and slowness, followed by rest tremor and sometimes instability, the specialist points out. These are known as “motor symptoms.
Depression, sleep disorders, impulse control and cognition disorders are part of the so-called “non-motor symptoms” and are secondary and late.
As far as the therapeutic approach to the disease is concerned, treatment today is practically symptomatic, i.e. it is aimed exclusively at improving the symptoms. According to the neurologist, it is highly effective and the objectives are usually achieved in an adequate and long-lasting manner.
Is it possible to find a definitive cure for the disease?
For the doctor, it is in our power to improve the influence of the external and internal factors associated with Parkinson’s disease, but he recognizes that the difficulty in eliminating the disease lies in the genetic basis and aging.
Undoubtedly, good knowledge and early symptomatic treatment will improve the survival and quality of life of patients. Perhaps in the future it will be possible to act on abnormal genes and/or eliminate accumulations of harmful proteins, but at present this practice is only possible in the field of research and experimentation.