Parkinson’s Disease

According to Wikipedia, “Parkinson’s disease is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system.” Symptoms of Parkinson’s are shaking, slowness of movement, and difficulty walking. These symptoms appear slowly. Depression, anxiety, and dementia are also common when the disease becomes advanced. With the prognosis of Parkinson’s, patients usually have 15 years left of their life and there are about 120,000 deaths a year from this disease. The cause of this disease is unknown, but believed to be genetic or environmental factors. Majority of people with family members that are affected by it usually will get the disease themselves. There is an increase risk of Parkinson’s for those people who have had prior head injuries or those who have been exposed to pesticides.

When narrowing this topic, I would like to focus on the muscle function. Parkinson’s affects a lot of the muscular functions of the body. First I would like to see which muscle area the disease usually attacks at first. Next, when doing research I hope to find out about the progression of the disease and if it differs for each person. My grandmother suffers from this disease, so being able to research and understand Parkinson’s more would give me a better look into her life. Also, when doing research I would like to focus on the age group most likely to get Parkinson’s disease. I hope to find research on how to slow down the progression of this disease with medication or any other types of treatment.