Parkinson's Disease Support Group
Parkinson's disease is a movement disorder often characterized by muscle rigidity, tremor, a slowing of physical movement, and in extreme cases, a loss of physical movement. The primary symptoms of Parkinsons are due to excessive muscle contraction, normally caused by the insufficient formation and action of dopamine, which is produced in the dopaminergic neurons of the...
In the Friday edition of our local newspaper was the regular column written by Dr. Donahue. It's that last two sentences that threw me.
Have you been told that after your initial diagnosis that your life expectancy is 10 yrs. on average? Maybe my head has been buried in the sand, but I don't recall ever being told this or reading it anywhere in all the reading & researching I have done on PD.
I am going to give it my best shot to copy the article and place it below:
Dear Drs. Donohue and Roach: My dad, age 77, has just been told he has Parkinsons disease. We, his children, arent sure of the implications of this for him, our mother or us. Currently, he isnt greatly impaired. He moves more slowly, but his thinking is clear. His hands dont shake.
What can we expect? What is his life expectancy? How is this treated? B.B.
A: Parkinsons disease is estimated to affect a million North Americans. Its a difficult illness difficult to have, difficult to treat and difficult to understand. Most of the time, the illness strikes people older than the age of 60, and most cases of Parkinsons disease are not inherited.
The underlying problem is a depletion of dopamine, a brain chemical that is vital to smooth, coordinated muscle movement and to thinking. Four prominent signs distinguish this illness. One is tremor, a shaking of the hands when theyre at rest, as they are when theyre lying in the lap. The index finger and thumb constantly roll over each other. Muscle rigidity is obvious when a doctor tries to move the arms or legs of the patient. They tend to be tightly frozen. Parkinsons patients find it hard to button a shirt or tie shoes. Bradykinesia, slowness of movement, is another sign. Typically, patients walk with slow, shuffling steps. Theyre quite prone to falls. As times passes, many patients develop trouble with clear thinking.
The treatments for Parkinsons disease are many. Often, the first choice is Sinemet, a combination of levodopa and carbidopa. It restores brain dopamine levels. Ill mention some other drugs to give you an idea of available medicines, but I cant elaborate on the way they work space isnt available for that. Amantadine, Artane, Requip and Comtan are but a few of the Parkinsons medicines that can be turned to if Sinemet fails to bring a satisfactory response.
From the time of diagnosis, Parkinsons patients average 10 more years of life. Thats an average, not a figure written in stone.
Have you been told that after your initial diagnosis that your life expectancy is 10 yrs. on average? Maybe my head has been buried in the sand, but I don't recall ever being told this or reading it anywhere in all the reading & researching I have done on PD.
I am going to give it my best shot to copy the article and place it below:
Dear Drs. Donohue and Roach: My dad, age 77, has just been told he has Parkinsons disease. We, his children, arent sure of the implications of this for him, our mother or us. Currently, he isnt greatly impaired. He moves more slowly, but his thinking is clear. His hands dont shake.
What can we expect? What is his life expectancy? How is this treated? B.B.
A: Parkinsons disease is estimated to affect a million North Americans. Its a difficult illness difficult to have, difficult to treat and difficult to understand. Most of the time, the illness strikes people older than the age of 60, and most cases of Parkinsons disease are not inherited.
The underlying problem is a depletion of dopamine, a brain chemical that is vital to smooth, coordinated muscle movement and to thinking. Four prominent signs distinguish this illness. One is tremor, a shaking of the hands when theyre at rest, as they are when theyre lying in the lap. The index finger and thumb constantly roll over each other. Muscle rigidity is obvious when a doctor tries to move the arms or legs of the patient. They tend to be tightly frozen. Parkinsons patients find it hard to button a shirt or tie shoes. Bradykinesia, slowness of movement, is another sign. Typically, patients walk with slow, shuffling steps. Theyre quite prone to falls. As times passes, many patients develop trouble with clear thinking.
The treatments for Parkinsons disease are many. Often, the first choice is Sinemet, a combination of levodopa and carbidopa. It restores brain dopamine levels. Ill mention some other drugs to give you an idea of available medicines, but I cant elaborate on the way they work space isnt available for that. Amantadine, Artane, Requip and Comtan are but a few of the Parkinsons medicines that can be turned to if Sinemet fails to bring a satisfactory response.
From the time of diagnosis, Parkinsons patients average 10 more years of life. Thats an average, not a figure written in stone.
What a medical misfit !
He wouldn't be so quick to put a stop watch on it if someone diagnosed him with PD.
He can come visit me any time after 2021 and I will tell him a thing or two.
Deciding whether to go eat chocolate or exercise ....hmmmm :-)
Cheers to you all
Darlene
Hubby has now had it for about 22 years. :)
TEN YEARS ! ?
I HAVE NO TIME FOR DEFEATIST AND NEGATIVE TALK, IT IS A DRAIN ON MY ENERGY.
TEN YEARS ! WHAT A LOAD OF RUBBISH.
I WAS DIAGNOSED FOURTEEN YEARS AGO.
THREE YEAR AGO, JUST PRIOR TO UNDERGOING DBS,
I HAVE JUST RECENTLY BEEN TOLD, THAT I WAS BEING CONSIDERED FOR A NURSING HOME. I AM STILL HERE.
"HEY PARKS, I'M STILL HERE YOU BASTARD,
I'M STILL HERE".
BEING BRUTILY HONEST WITH MYSELF, PARKINSON'S CONDITION WILL GET ME IN THE END, BUT NOT YET, NOT YET.
TEN YEARS! I THINK THIS IS UTTER RUBBISH.
MY GOAL, ME AGAINST PARKINSON'S, IS TO BE THE LAST MAN STANDING.
PARKINSON'S AND YOUR DOOM-SAYER ALLIES,
I'LL FIGHT YOU FOR THE NEXT TEN YEARS, I AM NOT GIVING IN.
I ENCOURAGE ALL MY PEERS TO TREAT THIS TEN YEARS BUSINESS WITH THE CONTEMPT IT DESERVES.
TEN YEARS INDEED, CAUSING ALL THIS STRESS AMONGST MY PEERS AND THEIR FAMILIES, STRESS WE CAN ALL WELL DO WITHOUT.
MAINTAIN A WINNING POSITION.
.
Science News
People with Parkinsons Have Normal Life Expectancy
- Mar 09 2009
Ten years after a Parkinsons disease (PD) diagnosis the survival rate among people with the disease is the same as for the general population, according to a study published online in the journal Movement Disorders.
The new study followed 238 people with Parkinsons for 20 years or more, longer than previous assessments of life expectancy with the disease. All were treated by movement disorder specialists at an academic medical center. The results debunk the common assumption that secondary complications of PD shorten the lives of people with Parkinsons. In fact, the researchers found thatjust as in the general populationheart disease was the leading cause of death among study participants, who lived on average to be 77 years old.
Among people who lived with PD for 15 or 20 years, the survival rate was only slightly lower than for the general population, for people of the same age. The researchers also found that gait disorder or a lack of resting tremor at diagnosis predicted a lower survival rate, and that women with PD lived slightly longer than men.
Source Date: Mar 05 2009