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2. "An OAP at 18": The Disease
An easy-to-understand description of Parkinson's Disease, outlining the basic symptoms and its effects.
Before I begin my story I should explain as well as I can about Parkinson's Disease.
Parkinson's Disease is a neurological illness. The substantia nigra is part of the nervous system which contains the dopaminergic nerve cells, it should be black but in Parkinson's Disease, because of cell loss, it becomes paler and so it does not work properly. This fails in the production of dopamine, the chemical needed for your body to work normally. It is not yet known why this happens but doctors can help us by prescribing certain drugs containing this chemical. There are three main symptoms, tremor, rigidity and slowness. First, the tremor, which is a fast uncontrollable movement that can be seen at rest, and on movement can be greatly aggravated. An internal tremor can often be felt but not seen. There are two types of rigidity which can be detected and described on examination. The first is cog-wheeling, producing a jerking effect on movement of joints. The second is lead-pipe, a smooth stiffness on movement. The rigidity along with the slowness is the more disabling side of the disease. The rigidity of the muscles often results in a lot of muscular pain, but I often find that frustration can be as painful as the physical side. There is nothing worse than knowing that you can do something but that your brain is working so slow, and, at times it is almost at a standstill. You know that you are not paralysed although at times it feels like it.
A common and often a giveaway symptom in Parkinson's Disease is the walk and the posture. The patient often becomes stooped, the head drops down and after a while the arms stop swinging and just hang there, motionless. Moreoften than not the patient does not walk but develops a shuffle. First the feet freeze and feel as if they are glued to the ground. When you eventually get going, the top half of the body seems to go faster than the bottom and you end up running and sometimes the only way to stop is to run into something. This can often lead to bumps and bruises. Some patients often find it easier to go up and down stairs or to step over objects. It often helps to imagine there is something on the ground in front of you and you have to step over it. I have tried this quite a few times, although it doesn't work as well as it used to.
The patient may have a 'mask-like' face, the face maintaining the same expression. There may be difficulty in speaking, in which the voice becomes much slower and softer, often resulting in people telling you that you are mumbling. Sometimes there is difficulty in swallowing, therefore, causing problems with eating and often resulting in dribbling.
As the disease progresses some patients find it very hard to get out of a chair and much more difficult to move and turn over in bed. Of course, if you can't get comfortable then you find it hard to sleep. I think sleep is very much needed if you suffer from this disease because so much more effort has to be put into every movement, that your body tires that much quicker.
There are other problems that can accompany Parkinson's Disease, these can sometimes be more of a nuisance than anything else. After a while the sufferer may develop constipation and bladder problems which are a terrible nuisance. It could either be incontinence or the complete opposite and not being able to pass water at all. Seborrhoea, a greasy and scaly condition of the skin mainly on the face, also making the hair very greasy and often accompanied by an itch. There are some face creams that can help and also special hair shampoos to relieve the problems.
Depression may attack at any time but can be treated with drugs. I find that the times in which I become depressed are when I continually have difficulty in carrying out certain tasks and frustration takes over. My husband has a knack of knowing when I need a good cry and will deliberately upset me as he knows that when I have had a good weep I will feel a lot better. I used to think he was being cruel doing this to me but my doctor agreed with him that a good cry would do me the world of good, and was definitely a lot better than taking more drugs. The longer one can do without drugs the better. Unfortunately once the disease takes hold you need the drugs to make the quality of life better; without them life would be meaningless.
- Back to "1. An OAP at 18": Introduction
- Forward to 3. "An OAP at 18": 1973-1976
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