Parkinson’s Disease
December 5, 2008
Old age is that age where a person is faced by many physical and mental problems. As the body becomes weak day by day, it becomes very difficult to cure the diseases. One such disease which is becoming a very big problem for individuals above 60 is Parkinson’s disease.
Nearly 3% of the population over 65 years of age is attacked by this deadly disease. Unfortunately, this percentage is continuously increasing and it is predicted to be doubled in the next 4 decades. As the age increases the risk of this disease also increases.
Parkinson’s disease works its course in such a way that it slowly disables the brain to communicate with the muscles of the body. In a way, it weakens the brain’s communicative system affecting the control of emotions, sensory process and maternal instincts. The saddest part is that the symptoms of this disease are visible only when 80% of the damage to brain has been done.
The name Parkinson’s is named after the physician Dr. James Parkinson who was the first one to describe this disease in his ”Essay on the Shaking Palsy.” Many factors affect this dangerous disease like gender, ethnicity etc. It is researched that men are at a higher risk of catching this disease than women the reason being the presence of estrogen in the females which protect the body from the chemical changes that take place in Parkinson’s disease.
It has been widely researched that Afro- Americans or Asian Americans are at a lower risk of developing this disease than Caucasians. Hereditary also plays an important factor in developing this disease but only in the cases of younger onset i.e. before the age of 40. Another factor affecting the development of this disease is the intake of coffee.
The more you have coffee, less are the chances of developing this disease. It has been predicted that the prevalence of this neurological disease will increase day by day and more and more cases of this disease will be encountered. Being the second most degenerative disease it will continue to effect the well being of the people who cross 60 and one person out of 200 will suffer from this disease and this number will continuously increase in the future years.
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