World Parkinson’s Day, keep up the fight

Parkinson’s is a neurodegenerative disease suffered by more than 100,000 people in Spain. It affects both women and men, mostly adults, and causes our body not to produce dopamine. As Dr. Àngels Bayés, director of the Parkinson’s Unit at Teknon Medical Center and member of Top Doctors, explains: “Parkinson’s is a disease for which there is still no clear cause as to who suffers from it and why, but according to the latest studies we can clearly see that demographic factors have an influence. For example, it has been shown that there is a greater tendency to suffer from it in regions with a high rate of industrialization”.

Symptomatology and treatment of Parkinson’s disease

People with Parkinson’s disease are usually over 65 years of age, and the probability of suffering from it increases by 1% with each passing year. There is also a risk of Parkinson’s disease manifesting itself at ages younger than forty, however, in this early variant, the disease takes longer to degenerate and patients can enjoy a better quality of life.

As Dr. Àngels Bayés of Top Doctors explains: “Some of the signs that can alert us to the disease are: difficulty in perceiving smells, constipation, depressive disorders and the most common of all, a slight tremor that begins first in one of the extremities and gradually spreads. In more advanced stages, the disease causes problems such as muscle stiffness, slowness of movement and difficulty in speech, writing and memory, among others”.

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Parkinson’s disease is mainly treated symptomatically, making up for the lack of dopamine to alleviate the symptoms derived from the disease. As explained by Dr. Bayés “the main drawback of these treatments is that over time they end up having many side effects, the main one being fluctuations. This causes the patient’s symptoms to return between doses. At this point, the patient is given other medications to help alleviate these relapses between doses”.

Dr. Bayés recommends that those affected by the disease “lead an active and happy life so that the symptoms do not worsen”. In addition, for the relatives of those affected, the Top Doctors specialist recommends “to be well informed about the disease and all its phases in order to help the patient to cope with it”.

The latest advances and studies: alpha-synuclein protein

It has recently been shown that a protein, the alpha-synuclein protein that our body generates autonomously, can trigger Parkinson’s disease because it accumulates in excess in the body. In Dr. Bayés’ opinion, “if we continue in this line of action, the day will come when we will understand the disease, what causes it and even find a way to alleviate it completely”.