Aubrey Walsh

Parkinson's Disease: Symptoms, Pathophysiology and Treatment Aubrey Walsh

ParkinsonÂ’s disease affects the central nervous system, thus impacting vital motor skills. The most common symptoms are motor related. Rigidity, tremor, postural instability and slowness of movement are common signs of the disease. Other recognized symptoms are related to gait and posture disturbances such as festination, freezing of gait, mask-like facial expression, a slurred monotonous quiet voice, etc. Cognitive deficits can also occur. These include executive dysfunction, problems with abstract thinking, lack of cognitive flexibility, attention deficit, uninhibited action, etc. The primary pathological mechanism of ParkinsonÂ’s disease is cell death in the brainÂ’s basal ganglia. The chief line of defense against the deterioration of motor functions due to ParkinsonÂ’s disease is a set of drugs comprising of levodopa, MAO-B inhibitors and dopamine agonists. Surgery, subcutaneous waking day apomorphine infusion, deep brain stimulation and enteral dopa pumps may also be used after the body stops reacting to medications. This book contains some path-breaking studies in ParkinsonÂ’s disease. It explores the fundamental as well as the modern understanding of the symptoms, pathophysiology and treatment of ParkinsonÂ’s disease. This book is a collective contribution of a renowned group of international experts. It is a complete source of knowledge on the present status of this disease.