Posts Tagged ‘Degenerative’
Parkinson’s Disease
Thursday, August 13th, 2009
DESCRIPTION
Parkinson was an English physician in the 18th century. He described a clinical state that has taken on his name. Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a degenerative disease affecting the nervous system. The underlying cause is unknown, but symptoms appear when there is a lack of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that carries messages from one nerve cell to another. In healthy persons, it exists in balance with another neurotransmitter, acetylcholine. In people with what is called primary Parkinson’s disease, the substantia nigra – the area of the brain containing cells that manufacture dopamine, noradrenaline, and serotonin – are damaged or dying, and the brain loses the ability to manufacture these chemicals. (more…)