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Essay / Parkinson's Disease - 1493
Parkinson's DiseaseParkinson's disease is a disease of the nervous system that affects the way your body moves. It belongs to the group of motor system disorders (about Parkinson's disease). This disease can impair a person's motor skills, speech and writing (All about Parkinson's disease). It may start with small tremors in just one of the person's hands and progress to the other hand as well. Parkinson's disease can affect a person's entire body. Parkinson's disease not only causes tremors, it can also cause stiffness or slow movement in the limbs (dementia). Parkinson's disease is caused by the slow deterioration of nerve cells in your brain (Causes). These nerve cells produce dopamine which helps control muscle movements throughout the body (All About Parkinson's Disease). As these cells die, the brain may no longer have a sufficient supply of dopamine. Dopamine is a major neurotransmitter in the brain and plays an important role in motor control, which is why patients with Parkinson's disease exhibit tremors (about Parkinson's disease). They don't have enough dopamine to precisely control their motor movements (causes). Parkinson's disease has been around longer than we think. Parkinson's disease is said to date back to ancient Egypt and has also appeared in the Christian Bible. There is no clear evidence of this until the 17th century (All About Parkinson's Disease). Although it has been around for some time, the disease has not always been called Parkinson's. In fact, it was called agitans paralysis or tremor paralysis when James Parkinson wrote an essay about it. It is believed that he was the first to talk about Parkinson's disease and it was later renamed Parkinson's disease in his honor. James was in the middle of paper ....... November 12, 2013. Mayo Clinic. March 11, 2014. “Diagnosis.” - Parkinson's Disease Foundation (PDF). 2014. Parkinson’s Disease Foundation. March 13, 2014. "Online health information, resources, tools and news - EverydayHealth.com." EverydayHealth.com. 2014. Everyday Health Media. March 13, 2014. “Parkinson’s Disease Overview.” National Parkinson Foundation. 2014. National Parkinson Foundation. March 12, 2014. “Parkinson’s Disease Statistics.” - Parkinson's Disease Foundation (PDF). Parkinson's Disease Foundation. March 10. 2014 .