11/04/2024
Parkinson’s disease is an age-related degenerative brain condition, meaning it causes parts of your brain to deteriorate. It’s best known for causing slowed movements, tremors, balance problems, and more. Most cases happen for unknown reasons, but some are inherited. The condition isn’t curable, but there are many different treatment options.
Parkinson’s disease causes a specific area of your brain, the basal ganglia, to deteriorate. As this area deteriorates, the patient loses the abilities of those areas once controlled. Researchers have uncovered that Parkinson’s disease causes a major shift in brain chemistry.
Under normal circumstances, the brain uses neurotransmitters to control how brain cells communicate with each other. With Parkinson’s disease, dopamine, one of the most important neurotransmitters is insufficient.
When the brain sends activation signals that tell muscles to move, it fine-tunes the movements using cells that require dopamine. That’s why lack of dopamine causes the slowed movements and tremors symptoms of Parkinson's disease. As Parkinson's disease progresses, the symptoms expand and intensify.
When healthcare providers suspect Parkinson’s disease or need to rule out other conditions, various imaging and diagnostic tests are possible. These include:
* Blood tests (these can help rule out other forms of Parkinsonism - there are conditions or circumstances experts have linked to Parkinsonism. While these aren't true Parkinson's disease, they have similar features, and healthcare providers may consider these causes while diagnosing Parkinson's disease.).
* Computerized tomography (CT) scan.
* Genetic testing.
* Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
* Positron emission tomography (PET) scan.
