Excessive and unconscionable muscle
contractions are usually the initial symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. They
develop as the activity of dopaminergic neurons decreases. Also, the symptoms
and their severity differ from patient to patient.
Typical symptoms include:
o Tremor; Most apparent symptom and occurs in various parts of
the body, most commonly in the hand and fingers. May be diminished when rigidity
(another symptom) becomes severe.
o Rigidity; stiffness and constraint in the muscles leading to
pain in rigid areas as the continual contraction of the muscles proceeds.
o Hypokinesia; Difficulty to make movements especially small
movements (due to the reduced muscle movement in the limbs, one side or the
whole of the body) with the occurrence of pauses. Other stages include
Bradykinesia when muscles react slowly, hence slower movements and akinesia
when there is a loss of movement. Hyphophonia is another symptom whereby the
individual has soft voice due to the lack of coordination of the vocal muscles.
o Flexion of trunk; affecting and reducing the motility of
muscles around the oesophagus (spasms), small intestine, and stomach results in
constipation. In severe condition, posture of the body may be disturbed such as
the neck and shoulder are bent at a right angle respective to the trunk.
Festination occurs overtime.
o Urinary incontinence; loss control of urogenital muscles and
only develops in later stage of Parkinson’s disease. May lead to incompetence
o Lewy bodies; aggregation of protein inside neurons which
indicates cellular damage is occurring. Besides Parkinson’s disease, Lewy
bodies are also associated with dementia and other disorders.
Other
disorders such as depression, dementia, dystonia, and sleep disturbances may
also develop together with Parkinson’s disease.
Hi Ben and Daniel,
ReplyDeleteWith regards to the Lewy bodies, why does protein accumulate in neurons (which is indicative of cellular damage)? Is there a specific mechanism that catalyses/regulates this event from occuring?
Thanks.
-kangming
Supp Kang Ming! Degradation of the neurons causes the aggregation and thus accumulation of proteins in the neurons. This process is caused by amine-related aldehydes, e.g. 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetaldehyde (DOPAL), and aldehyde- and oxidative neurotoxic that are not metabolised by the aldehyde dehydrogenase. There is no specific mechanism that causes the neural degradation, toxic molecules simply cause oxidative damages to the cells which cause the destructions.
DeleteThanks for the detailed explanation! The other question Fiona asked on the different types of Lewy bodies is also very new to me, yet informative and insightful.
DeleteThanks!
-kangming
Hello! Informative blog you have there!
ReplyDeleteI am particular interested in the part where you guys mentioned about the Lewy bodies. I remembered that there are 2 types of Lewy bodies, mind explaining what they are?
Thank you !!
Fiona
Supp Fiona! The two types of Lewy body, classical and cortical Lewy bodies differ in their morphological conditions. Classical Lewy body consists of an eosinophilic cytoplasmic inclusion which makes it more well-defined when viewed under the microscope and a dense core enclosed by the halo of fibrils. A cortical Lewy body on the other hand is less well defined and lacks the halo. Thank you for visiting our blog!
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