What exactly is Parkinsons ?

Toomuchstuff

Toomuchstuff

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I recently reconnected by email with my long lost best friend . It was so cool !!!! We're all in our early 60's and she told me her husband was diagnosed with Parkinson's 10 years ago. She said it's the "rapidly progressing" kind. She was never one to tell highly personal information , but she did share that he can't communicate anymore. It sounds like he needs 24/7 care , because she said she only gets out when the visiting therapist or her son is there. I know NOTHING about Parkinson's. I don't even know what to say to her. She'd probably ask me to visit if I keep emailing ..... but in all honesty - I'm scared . I don't know what she's up against . Everything I looked up is so clinical ..... nothing tells me about the personal side of the disease. My one big question is ..... does it affect the brain ? Is his brain okay but his body just can't convey things ? I would sooooo much appreciate your help . I'd love to visit them !
Thank you soooooo much !
 

Michael J. Fox is a personality that most of us know who was stricken with Parkinson's Disease and is progressively getting worse from what I've read. Here's an explanation of the disease from his foundation website. More information from his site HERE.

Parkinson's disease was first characterized extensively by an English doctor, James Parkinson, in 1817.

Today, we understand Parkinson's disease to be a disorder of the central nervous system that results from the loss of cells in various parts of the brain, including a region called the substantia nigra.

The substantia nigra cells produce dopamine, a chemical messenger responsible for transmitting signals within the brain that allow for coordination of movement.

Loss of dopamine causes neurons to fire without normal control, leaving patients less able to direct or control their movement. Parkinson's disease is one of several diseases categorized by clinicians as movement disorders.

The exact cause of Parkinson's disease is unknown, although research points to a combination of genetic and environmental factors. If a continuum existed, with exclusively genetic causes at one end and exclusively environmental causes at the other, different Parkinson's patients would likely fall at many different places along that continuum.
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Please make an effort to visit your friend. I know what it is like to be a care giver, and it is very stressful.
 
TMS.... I'm sorry to hear about your friends' husband....

My father had fast progressing PD, it caused him to have a series of small strokes.. and he died within 5 years of being diagnosed...That was 9 years ago

However although many PD sufferers stop talking it's rare for the PD to have caused that solely , because PD affects the cells in the Brain that control movement... what in fact usually happens is that the PD sufferer can't think or react fast enough to make conversation and so gives up talking... but it's extremely rare for the PD sufferer unless they've had strokes to not understand what is being said to them....so please find out if that's the case..and go along and visit your friend's husband, if she asks... and be sure she'll only ask if her husband will recognise you, and if he does, then you can be sure he'll understand your conversation even if he's unable to respond, verbally..... Remember that with Parkinsons' the more stress the more symptoms...

Many diseases mimic PD and can cause lack of memory and the ability to lose speech or understanding, and often patients are misdiagnosed... but usually PD disease only causes patients to stop talking due to their inability to keep up with everyone else in a conversation so they choose to speak less and less..

https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/types-frontotemporal-disorders
 
.........nothing tells me about the personal side of the disease. My one big question is ..... does it affect the brain ? Is his brain okay but his body just can't convey things ? I would sooooo much appreciate your help . I'd love to visit them !
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My father had this. Everyone is affected in various ways and there is no telling how much the disease will progress. My Dad was mostly functional, but had periods where he was essentially 'frozen' and could not really move or speak well. I know of someone else who was diagnosed and within two years went to a nursing home as he couldn't do anything for himself at any time. In both the cases I know, they remained perfectly lucid and has all their intellectual capacities. They simply could not control their movements.
The disease often progresses to the point where autonomic functions are affected and parts of the body can just shut down, permanently. You just don't know.

The fact that M J Fox has the disease, and more money than God to treat it, but to little avail, shows how devastating the disease is and how little we can do for it.
 
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