Living with Parkinson’s disease
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Parkinson’s disease is the second-most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s disease, affecting nearly one million people in the US. While there is no cure for Parkinson’s disease, today’s treatments can significantly improve symptoms and provide a better quality of life, according to medical experts.
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder that profoundly affects movement. The disease causes a loss of nerve cells in the brain that produces dopamine, which is essential for regulating movement and emotional responses. Studies have shown that most people with Parkinson’s disease have lost up to 80 percent or more of the dopamine-producing cells in the brain by the time symptoms appear, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
Parkinson’s disease symptoms can vary from person to person. Symptoms often start gradually and include tremors, slowed movement, muscle stiffness, and impaired posture and balance.
People living with Parkinson’s disease benefit most from a comprehensive, team-based healthcare approach that consists of medically diverse experts, according to the Parkinson’s Foundation. Treatment should be tailored to an individual’s symptoms and may include the following:
Exercise—Movement is vital to maintaining balance, mobility and activities of daily living. An exercise program should consist of aerobic activity, strength training, balance, agility and multitasking, and flexibility.
Rehabilitation Therapy—Physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy, if needed, can help manage symptoms at every stage of the disease.
Prescription Medications—Since most symptoms are caused by a lack of dopamine in the brain, many medications are intended to temporarily replenish dopamine or mimic the action of dopamine.
Surgery—Advanced treatments include deep brain stimulation and Duopa therapy, which delivers medications directly into the body to increase dopamine levels in the brain.
Two internationally acclaimed programs are available to help individuals with Parkinson’s disease improve their quality of life:
This one-on-one physical therapy program focuses on improving body movements. It involves refining smaller movements, such as self-care, to larger movements like getting up from a sofa or maintaining balance while walking.
This program is considered the “gold standard” of speech treatment for people with Parkinson’s disease. The one-on-one sessions improve communication by helping the patient speak with a voice and volume that is easy for others to hear and understand.
At Horizon Health, LSVT BIG and LSVT LOUD programs are led by certified licensed therapists in the Rehabilitation Services Department. For more information, call 217-466-4244 or visit MyHorizonHealth.org/BigLoud.
