Parkinson's disease

Epic card · No. 5362

Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor and non-motor systems. The motor symptoms, collectively called parkinsonism, include tremors, slowness in initiating movement (bradykinesia), rigidity, and difficulty maintaining balance (postural instability). Non-motor symptoms may appear at any stage of the disease, including autonomic nervous system failures (dysautonomia), sleep abnormalities, decreased ability to smell (anosmia), and behavioral changes or neuropsychiatric problems, such as cognitive impairment, psychosis, and anxiety. Symptoms typically develop gradually, and non-motor issues become more prevalent as the disease progresses. Parkinson's disease has no single cause; rather, genetic and environmental factors interact to affect critical cellular processes. Parkinson's disease involves the gradual decay and loss of dopamine-producing neurons in a brain region called the substantia...

Read on Wikipedia · Image William Gowers; retouched by User:Dustfreeworld, Public domain