EAST WINDSOR (April 7, 2021) – April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month and awareness is key to improving care and advancing research toward a cure.
Prior to COVID, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) rated complications from PD as the 14th leading cause of death in the United States. Although there is no cure, treatment options vary and include medications and surgery. While Parkinson’s itself is not fatal, disease complications can be serious.
According to the Parkinson’s Foundation, Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a chronic and progressive movement disorder and is a neuro-degenerative disease whereby cells responsible for producing dopamine die off in the substantia nigra area of the brain. Dopamine is essential for movement as it acts as a transmitter for signals from the brain to other parts of the body.
Learn more about Fresh River’s PD Program here…
Symptoms generally develop slowly over years. The progression of symptoms is often a bit different from one person to another due to the diversity of the disease. People with PD may experience tremor (mainly at rest and described as pill rolling tremor in hands. Other forms of tremor are possible), bradykinesia (lack or slowness of movement), limb rigidity (especially in the wrist and elbow joints), and unstable gait/balance/posture.
In addition to movement-related (“motor”) symptoms, Parkinson’s symptoms may be unrelated to movement (“non-motor”). People with PD are often more impacted by their non-motor symptoms than motor symptoms. Examples of non-motor symptoms include: apathy, depression, constipation, sleep behavior disorders, loss of sense of smell and cognitive impairment.
Fresh River Healthcare specializes in the treatment and management of movement disorders. Whether you are in the early or advanced stages of Parkinson’s or Huntington’s disease, Fresh River’s inter-disciplinary team will help you get the most out of each day. We will create a treatment plan specific to your needs with careful attention to the effectiveness of medications. Fresh River provides Movement Disorder programs for Parkinson’s disease on an inpatient and outpatient basis with more services returning as the COVID pandemic, hopefully, subsides.
To learn more about PD awareness, visit https://parkinson.org/parkinsons-awareness-month. Call 1-800-4PD-INFO (1-800-473-4636) or email gro.nosnikrap@enilpleh for current disease information and emotional support