Parkinson’s Disease

Most of us have heard of Parkinson’s Disease and we may even know of someone who received a diagnosis and is living with it.

Parkinson’s Disease is a neurological movement disorder which affects your brain. The disease causes you to lose cells in different regions of your brain. 

Based on data from health care records and medicare it is estimated that approximately one million Americans are living with Parkinson’s.  It mainly affects people over the age of 50 but 10% of those diagnosed are under that age.

Common symptoms include:

• Tremors
• Stiffness and rigidity with your muscles
• Sleep issues
• Constipation
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Fatigue

Early diagnosis is important.  If symptoms appear it’s important to visit your medical professional.   There is no cure for Parkinson’s and it does progress over the years so starting treatments is essential.

The actor Michael J. Fox is someone diagnosed early and he has lived with the disease for a little over 30 years.  He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at age 29.  He started a foundation to help with research.

The Michael J. Fox Foundation has raised over $1.5 billion to fund research from 2000 to 2023.

There is some hope for new treatments available. There is adaptive brain stimulation and a new drug called Vyalev.  Both are approved by the FDA and there is hope that both will be helpful to improve or help manage the symptoms of the disease.

Private Home Health Care knows how challenging this disease can be and we hope that additional research will provide continued treatments for those affected.