In the early stage of Parkinson’s Disease, patients experience noticeable tremor, swing and walking, slurred speech, even stiffness or slowness of movement along with staggering gait.

Signs and Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease

1. Bradykinesia (Slowness of movement) – Parkinson’s Disease causes slowed physical movement in upper and/or lower extremities, making easy and simple tasks difficult. Steps of the patients become shorter, difficulty to get out of bed or chair, sometimes drag their feet when they try to walk.
2. Tremor – Shaking usually begins in a single limb, usually at hand, arm or fingers.
3. Rigidity of Muscles – Muscular stiffness can occur at effected part, which may be painful and with limited range of motion.
4. Impaired Automatic Movements – Patients perform unconscious movements, including blinking of eyes, smiling, swinging of arms etc.
5. Postural Instability and loss of Balance – Stooping postures with instable balance are common Parkinson’s Disease.
6. Dystonia – Patients cannot move around and fail to make normal facial expressions because of the tension and rigidity in the muscles resulting in painful muscular cramps. Dystonia is a form of uncontrollable painful muscle spasm.
7. Slurred Speech – Patients hesitate while talking. Speech become more of a monotone rather than with the natural inflections.
8. Writing Disorganized – People with Parkinson Disease feel hard to write anything.

Physical and Mental Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease

1. Anosmia (Loss of sense of smell) – The sense of smell of the patients is lost or changed unpleasantly.
2. Neural Pain – Unpleasant sensations, like burning or numbness may occur sometimes.
3. Incontinence of Urine – Patients are compelled to get up frequently to urinate during the night, sometimes pass urine involuntarily.
4. Constipation – Most Parkinson patients suffer in obstinate constipation.
5. Hyperhidrosis – Excessive sweating affects the whole body in this condition.
6. Erectile Dysfunction – Male patients suffer in impotency.
7. Orgasmic Dysfunction – Women face difficulty to become sexually aroused and do not enjoy orgasm.
8.  Dysphagia (Difficulty swallowing) – Some patients cannot swallow foods easily leading to malnutrition and dehydration.
9. Drooling – Excessive production of saliva.
10. Insomnia – Sleeplessness at night results in excessive sleepiness in day-time. Some patients experience uncontrollable movement during sleep.
11. Depression and Anxiety – Feelings of uneasiness or fear and low mood can occur with mental confusion.
12. Dementia – Mild cognitive impairment along with problems with activities which require planning and organization may occur with symptoms of memory loss.
13. Psychosis – Hallucinations and delusions may occur in Parkinson patients as a non-motor symptom.
14. Thought Blocking – In more advanced stage of Parkinson Disease, problems with thinking and finding of proper words are common.
15. Change of Personality – This can cause impulse control disorders with other impulsive behaviors.

Types of Parkinson’s Disease

1. Primary Parkinsonism – The majority of people around 80% suffer in this idiopathic type whose cause is unknown.
2. Secondary Parkinsonism –
3. Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD) – A type of Parkinsonism with progressive neuro-degenerative condition with numbness and loss of coordinated movement causing difficulties in dressing, writing, eating. etc.
4. Drug-induced Parkinsonism – It is a form of Parkinson Disease which occurs after taking certain medicines. Some neuroleptic and antipsychotic drugs block the action of neurotransmitter dopamine causing staggering of gait and other movement disorders.
5. Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) – This progressive neurological disease triggers over-production of a brain-protein called alpha synuclein which causes nerve cell degeneration and atrophy in several areas of the brain stem, cerebellum and basal ganglia. This nerve-cell degeneration can result movement disorders and other unconscious body functions.
6. Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) – This neurodegenerative brain disease causes frontotemporal dementia along with impairment of balance, speech and thought process.
7. Vascular Parkinsonism – Stroke symptoms appear suddenly in this type of arteriosclerotic Parkinsonism which usually affects more in the lower extremities. Restricted blood supply to the brain is occurred in this type usually more older people who have been suffering in diabetes, including symptoms of urinary incontinence, loss of memory and walking difficulties.

Causes of Parkinson’s Disease ?

1. Neurotransmitter Death – Dopamine is made from substantia nigra in the brain. If the dopaminergic neurons those are responsible for secreting dopamine start to die gradually, dopamine level decreases resulting to Parkinson symptoms.
2. Gene Abnormality – Genes are, we know, our body’s instruction book. If our genetic code is changed anyway, our physical system starts working in a different way causing movement disorder, slowed movement, slurred speech, etc. Single genetic mutation in the LRRK2 gene is the greatest genetic cause of Parkinson Disease.
3. Environmental Cause – Modern research indicates that some chemicals and metals show links with Parkinsonism. Chemicals used in farming, such as herbicides, insecticides and fungicides, and also metals used in factories, such as lead, manganese and trichloroethylene may trigger the disease.
4. Previous Head Injury – If anyone had suffered serious head injury earlier with loss of consciousness, he or she may prone to suffer in Parkinson Disease late in life.
5. Presence of Alpha-synuclein within Lewy Body – Some microscopic markers stay within our brain cells as clumps of specific substance called Lewy bodies. An important natural and widespread protein named alpha-synuclein is found within Lewy bodies can trigger the cause of the disease,

How is Parkinson’s Disease Diagnosed ?

There is no specific test for the diagnosis of Parkinson Disease. Neurologists consider the disease based on the neurological and physical history. If necessary, doctors may suggest a scan called Dopamine Transporter Scan (DTS) which is a single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) scan. Imaging tests, such as, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Scan, Computed Tomography (CT) Scan, Ultrasound of the Brain, etc. are at times required for differential diagnosis or diagnostic conclusion.

Allopathic treatment for Parkinson’s Diseases

With today’s allopathic medicines, we have yet to find a cure for Parkinson’s disease. However,

Treatment for Parkinson’s disease may include the following:

• Medications
• Surgery
• Complementary and supportive therapies, such as diet, exercise, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy Increasing the level of dopamine in the brain
• Having an effect on other brain chemicals, such as neurotransmitters, which transfer information between brain cells
• Helping control non-movement symptoms

The main therapy for Parkinson’s is levodopa. Nerve cells use levodopa to make dopamine to replenish the brain’s dwindling supply. Usually, people take levodopa along with another medication called carbidopa. Carbidopa prevents or reduces some of the side effects of levodopa therapy — such as nausea, vomiting, low blood pressure, and restlessness — and reduces the amount of levodopa needed to improve symptoms.

People living with Parkinson’s disease should never stop taking levodopa without telling their doctor. Suddenly stopping the drug may have serious side effects, like being unable to move or having difficulty breathing.

The doctor may prescribe other medicines to treat Parkinson’s symptoms, including:

• Dopamine agonists to stimulate the production of dopamine in the brain
• Enzyme inhibitors (e.g., MAO-B inhibitors, COMT inhibitors) to increase the amount of dopamine by slowing down the enzymes that break down dopamine in the brain
• Amantadine to help reduce involuntary movements
• Anticholinergic drugs to reduce tremors and muscle rigidity

Deep brain stimulation

For people with Parkinson’s disease who do not respond well to medications, the doctor may recommend deep brain stimulation. During a surgical procedure, a doctor implants electrodes into part of the brain and connects them to a small electrical device implanted in the chest. The device and electrodes painlessly stimulate specific areas in the brain that control movement in a way that may help stop many of the movement-related symptoms of Parkinson’s, such as tremor, slowness of movement, and rigidity.

Homeopathic Treatment of Parkinson’s Patients 

My (Dr. Qaisar Ahmed MD, DHMS)  experience with Parkinson’s patients is :

Strychninum Phosphoricum

This drug acts through the cerebro-spinal system upon muscles, causing twitching, stiffness, weakness and loss of power; upon circulation, producing irregularity of pulse, and upon the mind, producing lack of control, uncontrollable desire to laugh and disinclination to use the brain. Very irregular pulse. Tachycardia. Rapid and weak pulse. Useful in chorea, hysteria, acute asthenia after acute fevers. Symptoms worse motion, better rest and in open air. An excellent remedy in anaemia of spinal cord; paralysis; burning, aching, and weakness of spine; pain extends to front of chest; tenderness on pressure in mid-dorsal region; cold, clammy feet; hands and axillae covered with clammy perspiration. Atelectasis and break in the compensation of a hypertrophied heart; the beginning of fatty degeneration of the heart muscle.

Absinthium

Hallucinations. Frightful visions. Kleptomania. Loss of memory. Forgets what has recently happened. Wants nothing to do with anybody. Brutal. Vertigo, with tendency to fall backward. General confusion. Wants head low. Pupils dilated unequally. Face blue. Spasmodic facial twitching. Dull occipital headache

Oenanthe Crocata

Epileptiform convulsions; worse, during menstruation and pregnancy. Puerperal eclampsia; uraemic convulsions. Burning in throat and stomach, nausea and vomiting. Red spots in face. Convulsive facial twitching. Skin affections, especially lepra and ichthyosis.

Pains all over head, dizzy. Sudden and complete unconsciousness. Furious delirium, giddiness. Countenance livid, eyes fixed, pupils dilated, convulsive twitching of facial muscles, trismus, foaming at mouth, locked jaws. Much yawning. Tendency to cry over little things.

Zincum Metallicum

Weak memory. Very sensitive to noise. Averse to work, to talk. Repeats everything said to. Fears arrest on account of a supposed crime. Melancholia. Lethargic, stupid. Paresis.

Head feels as if he would fall to left side. Headache from the smallest quantity of wine. Hydrocephalus. Rolls head from side to side. Bores head into pillow. Occipital pain, with weight on vertex. Automatic motion of head and hands. Brain-fag; headaches of overtaxed school children. Forehead cool; base of brain hot. Roaring in head. Starting in fright.

Eyes: Pterygium; smarting, lachrymation, itching. Pressure as if pressed into head. Itching and soreness of lids and inner angles. Ptosis. Rolling of eyes. Blurring of one-half of vision; worse, stimulants. Squinting. Amaurosis, with severe headache. Red and inflamed conjunctiva; worse, inner canthus.

Natrum Sulphuricum

Melancholy, with periodical attacks of mania. Suicidal tendency; must exercise restraint. Inability to think. Dislikes to speak, or to be spoken to. Occipital pain. Piercing stitches in ears. Vertigo; relieved by sweat on head. Bursting feeling on coughing. Hot feeling on top of head. Bursting feeling on coughing. Hot feeling on top of head. Boring in right temple, preceded by burning in stomach. Ill-effects of falls and injuries to the head, and mental troubles arising therefrom. Dreams of running water.

Medorrhinum

Weak memory. Loses the thread of conversation. Cannot speak without weeping. Time passes too slowly. Is in a great hurry. Hopeless of recovery. Difficult concentration. Fears going insane. Sensibility exalted. Nervous, restless. Fear in the dark and of someone behind her. Melancholy, with suicidal thoughts.

Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)

Severe heaviness of the head due to intense weakness of the neck muscles, could not keep the head up, except by manual support. Felt stuffy and oppressed, stiffness of the neck muscles; Torticollis, Constant locking and cracking of cervical vertebrae when turning head to the right.

Intense muscular weakness over the whole body. Intense physical tiredness.Lifting arms or even moving fingers caused exhaustion. Symptoms < humid weather or warm atmosphere. Desire for open air.

Head felt full and thick. Weakness of intellect. Too tired to think. Tiredness caused disinterest in work and reduced application. Memory

Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri) 

An Ayurvedic herb that is sometimes used to treat people with Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer disease, improves blood circulation to and in brain, improves mood, cognitive function, and general neurological function.

Argentum Nitricum 

Faintish and tremulous. Melancholic; apprehensive of serious disease. Time passes slowly. Memory weak. Errors of perception. Impulsive; wants to do things in a hurry. Peculiar mental impulses. Fears and anxieties and hidden irrational motives for actions.

Head: Headache with coldness and trembling. Emotional disturbances cause appearance of hemicranial attacks. Sense of expansion. Brain-fag, with general debility and trembling. Headache from mental exertion, from dancing. Vertigo, with buzzing in ears and with nervous affections. Aching in frontal eminence, with enlarged feeling in corresponding eye. Boring pain; better on tight bandaging and pressure. Itching of scalp. Hemicrania; bones of head feel as if separated.

Inner canthus swollen and red. Spots before the vision. Blurred vision. Photophobia in warm room. Purulent ophthalmia. Great swelling of conjunctiva; discharge abundant and purulent. Chronic ulceration of margin of lids; sore, thick, swollen. Unable to keep eyes fixed steadily. Eye-strain from sewing. Paretic condition of ciliary muscle. Acute granular conjunctivitis. Cornea opaque.

Causticum 

For Parkinson disease with restless legs at night, Paralysis of right side,  Paralysis of ocular muscles, Paralysis of tongue, with indistinct speech, Involuntary when coughing, sneezing. Expelled very slowly, and sometimes retained. Involuntary during first sleep at night; also from slightest excitement, Stiffness between shoulders, Paralysis of single parts. Dull, tearing pain in hands and arms, Heaviness and weakness, Tearing joints.

Mercuris Vivid 

Weakness of limbs, trembling of extremities, especially hands. Paralytic agitans. Lacerating pain in joints. Cold and clammy sweat on limbs. Oily perspiration. Tremors everywhere in body. Weakness with trembling from least exertion. All symptoms are aggravated at night, warmth of bed, Damp, cold, rainy weather and during perspiration. Complaints increase during sweating and rest. All symptoms always associated with weariness, prostration and trembling. Slow in answering questions. Memory weakened and loss of will power. Skin always moist and freely perspiring. Itching worse warmth of bed.

Plumbum metallicum 

Mental depression. Fear of being assassinated. Quiet melancholy. Slow perception; loss of memory; amnesic aphasia. Hallucinations and delusions. Intellectual apathy. Memory impaired. Paretic dementia.

Head: Delirium alternating with colic. Pain as if a ball rose from throat to brain. Hair very dry. Tinnitus.

Eyes: Pupils contracted. Yellow. Optic nerve inflamed. Intraocular, suppurative inflammation. Glaucoma, especially if secondary to spinal lesion. Optic neuritis, central scotoma. Sudden loss of sight after fainting.

Face pale and cachectic. Yellow, corpse-like; cheeks sunken. Skin of face greasy, shiny. Tremor of naso-labial muscles. Tongue tremulous, red on margin. Cannot put it out, seems paralyzed.

Gelsemium 

Centers its action on nervous system, causing various degrees of motor paralysis. Dizziness, drowsiness, dullness and trembling are the hallmark of this remedy. Trembling ranks the highest in this remedy, weakness and paralysis, especially of the muscles of the head. Paralysis of various groups of muscles like eyes, throat, chest, sphincters and extremities. Head remedy for tremors. Mind sluggish and muscular system relaxed. Staggering gait. Loss of power of muscular control. Cramps in muscles of forearm. Excessive trembling and weakness of all limbs. Worse by dampness, excitement, bad news. Better by bending forwards, profuse urination, continued motion and open air.