what goes wrong within brain in parkinson's disease?

beth1912 · Newbie Joined: 27 Oct 2007 Posts: 1

Hi, my husband's mother suffers from parkinson's disease. This situation is very difficult for my husband and our entire family. I can't stand to see my husband so worried and helpless. My mother-in-law is very ill, but there is little he can do to help her. I often wonder what goes wrong within brain in parkinson's disease. I mean why isn't there something we can do to help my mother-in law?

nan1585 · Newbie Joined: 20 Nov 2005 Posts: 1

Hi, Parkinson's disease is a condition affecting central nervous system. The pathology of the condition is understood, but what is the cause of these changes is not. The nerve cells communicate between each other with the help of special substances called neurotransmitters. Dopamine is one of these neurotransmitters. This substance is very important for the control of muscle movement. It reduces the contraction of the muscles. What happens during the Parkinson's disease is that the brain cells that produce dopamine get destroyed. Without dopamine a person cannot perform fluid, controlled movements. That is why your mother-in-law has tremors. Her brain doesn't control her muscles. The best solution for these patients would be a dopamine therapy. Unfortunately, dopamine cannot get from the blood into the brain cells in sufficient quantities, because most of it gets metabolized along the way. That is why doctors use drugs that block the enzymes that destroy dopamine or drugs that mimic the dopamine effect on the brain and are resistant to these enzymes. The only thing you could do to help her is to make sure she takes her therapy on time. The drugs that are used to treat Parkinson's disease help her to maintain certain levels of dopamine in her brain and slow down the progression of the illness.

what goes wrong within brain in parkinson's disease?

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