How many of us know a family member, friend or neighbor who has been touched by this disabling disease? Parkinson’s disease is a progressive degenerative disease affecting the central nervous system. It is a devastating disease that not only affects our body movements but also our mind with sufferer’s often exhibiting depression and or dementia. Scientific American has posted an article called “Sparkling Recovery with Brain Pacemakers” that shows promise and hope for those individuals suffering from this dreaded disease.
In this study a medical technology known as “deep-brain stimulation” has been used. The video at Kringelbach shows an individual with advanced Parkinson’s disease revealing and eliminating symptoms with a quick click of a switch. To understand the meaning of all this lets do a review on Parkinson’s disease.
What is Parkinson’s disease?
In Parkinson’s disease a specific area of the brain, where a chemical messenger called dopamine is produced, dies or becomes impaired. The underlying cause is unknown. Symptoms appear when there is a lack of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that carries messages from one nerve cell to another. In a healthy brain, it exists in balance with another neurotransmitter called acetylcholine. In Parkinson’s disease, the substancia nigra, the area of the brain containing cells that manufacture dopamine, noradrenaline and serotonin, are dying or are damaged and the brain loses the ability to manufacture these chemicals.
Symptoms:
The symptoms can vary from person to person. Symptoms usually begin on one side of the body and remain worse on that side of the body. The symptoms start gradually, with a mild tremor of a hand. Also, a back and forth rubbing of the thumb and forefinger, known as pill-rolling, is common. Over time this disorder causes a slowing of voluntary movement and muscle stiffness such as impaired speech or a fixed facial expression while the body becomes rigid and the limbs stiffen. People with Parkinson’s disease often experience instability when standing or impaired balance and coordination. Depression and /or dementia often accompany the physical symptoms.
What is Deep Brain stimulation?
Deep-brain stimulation is basically a pacemaker for the brain that consists of a simple two part device. The surgeon places two thin wires deep within the brain and then inserts a small battery just underneath the skin near the collarbone. Pulses of electricity travel from the battery to electrodes located at the tip of the wires. In those afflicted with Parkinson’s the effects are instantaneous. Notably, the quieting of the tremors and the ability to walk again. This technique is still being perfected, but shows much promise. It is not a cure and does involve a deeply invasive surgery, with all the brain surgery risks, to reap the benefits.
Let’s hope that in the near future this medical technology becomes available for all Parkinson’s sufferers and that they can make a choice to undergo this surgery to live a good quality life afterwards.
If you are interested in reading the Scientific American article go to Sciam.com
Everyone gets depressed from time to time. And considering the very frightening times we’re living in, it’s no wonder that more and more people are feeling increased anxiety and what can be called depression. Of course losing your job and facing home foreclosure or just wondering if it’s going to happen to you next can make anyone depressed!Have a combination of feelings of anxiousness and being afraid really cannot be called Major Depression as there is usually more to this than those two emotions.
Depression is a condition caused when the brain does not properly regulate the production of certain chemicals that are necessary for a good or healthy mood. Outside factors can influence how the brain releases and regulates these chemicals, but in major depression these chemicals are very rarely released and are not released in adequate amounts.
Symptoms of Major Depression
There are many different types of depression, from postpartum depression which of course occurs after a woman has had a baby, as well as bipolar disorder which is marked by wild mood swings of euphoria to near suicidal thoughts, and many other types in between.Being a very severe form of Depression, Major Depression is usually found is someone with extremely low and down moods all of the time. A person with this condition may not necessarily be suicidal but struggles every day just with getting out of bed, and not just on the worst of Mondays but also when they even have something fun and enjoyable planned. Patients with major depression often see no point to any activity, even hobbies they once enjoyed.A lot of times people just disengage with their lives and tend to have no feelings and almost walk around as a zombie. Very often things they would have once taken care of now are ignored, and this might include their own personal care and hygiene.
Coping With Depression
It can be very difficult to deal with depression in any form, and the condition often brings with it other emotional distresses such as guilt, panic and anxiety. Others in the family may also be less than supportive, thinking that the patient should just snap out of it and pull themselves together. These things don’t make coping with major depression any easier. It’s important to recognize the condition as a disease and not something the patient has chosen or enjoys. On the other hands, it’s important for the patient to remember that he or she shouldn’t hide behind the disease and still needs to take care of responsibilities around the house and in the office whether or not he or she “feels like it.”
Some form of medication is also recommended when it comes to major depression. While many shy away from taking medication, remember that it’s important to treat this condition as the disease it is. There are also many new options on the market today that are less harsh than choices in the past and that have far fewer side effects than before.
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More and more cases of depression in teens are being reported today by doctors and scientists. This may be because more teens are asking for help with their condition, because doctors are getting better at diagnosing the condition, or simply because there are more and more cases to be reported. Or it may be a combination of these various factors, but whatever the reason, Depression in Teens is not something that should be ignored. It’s unfortunate that some extreme cases have led to tragedy, so whether you’re a teen concerned with your condition or a parent, it’s important to sit up and take note, and then take action.
The many causes of depression in teens range from physical problems internally to external circumstances that cause them to learn depression. Depression itself is caused by a chemical reaction in the brain, where it does not regulate and release a chemical necessary for a good mood. When this chemical is not released properly, not only is there a lack of happiness but the overall mood is sadness.Alot of times you may find that the brain is not releasing the proper chemical and there are problems with imbalance. Other physical causes include the fluctuation of hormones that are common during puberty; sometimes these fluctuations can be so severe that depression can set it. Some of these physical causes of depression in teens can go away over time, as they get older and those hormones level off.Don’t ever dance with the devil and ignore some of the symptoms and other issues.
It’s thought that problems such as bullying can cause Depression in Teens . Keep in mind that often when a person feels trapped and helpless in their situation this can lead to depression, regardless of the situation they feel trapped in – a bad marriage, severe debt, a stressful job, and so on. When it comes to bullying and depression in teens, kids often feel trapped and helpless because they can’t switch schools the way one can switch jobs or get a divorce, and they often feel as if they can’t talk to their parents or anyone else about the problem. This helplessness and frustration with the problem, as well as the humiliation they may be suffering, can often cause depression in teens. Other situations can be similar to how a bullied teen feels. For instance if they live in an abusive home or even if one parent is negligent or abusive, if they are using any kind of drugs, if they have failing grades, or if they feel they are under tremendous amounts of pressure to perform academically or athletically, these factors too can cause depression in teens.
There are many ways to treat depression in teens and having a good support system is of utmost importance. Teens should be able to approach their parents with any problem they have an know that they won’t be chastised or punished but rather will be helped and assisted, and depression should be no different.
