Question

Describe what happens to people who have Parkinson’s disease. What cells are affected and where do they project to? What is the consequence on motor behavior and why? How does PD relate to Huntington’s disease (aka Huntington’s chorea)? How is PD different than other movement disorders like ALS and polio? One experimental treatment for PD involves injecting stem cells that produce a particular neurotransmitter into the brain: what neurotransmitter do you think it is and where do you think surgeons implant the cells? If you could design the perfect treatment for PD, what would it be?

Answer 1

PARKINSON DISEASE:

It is a alowly progressive degenerative disease of nervous system associated with destruction of " brain cells" which produce dopamine.

CAUSES:

Parkinson disease occurs due to lack of dopamine caused by damage of basal ganglia. It is mostly due to destruction of substantia nigra and nigrostriatal pathway,which has dopaminergic fibers. Damage of basal ganglia usually occirs because of following causes:

i) viral infection of brain like encephalitis

ii) cerebral arteriosclerosis

iii) Injury to basal ganglia

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF PARKINSON DISEASE:

* Tremor

*Slowness of movements

*poverty of movements

* Rigidity

*The patient loses the normal gait.

* Speech problems

* Emotional changes

*Dementia

TREATMENT FOR PARKINSON DISEASE:

It is treated by dopamine injection. Dopamine does not cross the blood -brain-barrier. So, another substance called levodopa which crosses the blood-brain- barrier is injected. Along with levodopa another substance carbidopa is administered.

HUTINGTON CHOREA:

Huntington diseasevis an inherited progressive neural disorder due to the degeneration of neurons secreting GABA in corpus striatum and substantia nigra. This disease starts mostly in middle age.It is characterised by chorea, hypotonia, dementia. In severe cases bilateral wasting of muscle occurs. It is otherwise called degenerative chorea, chronic progressive chorea.