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Parkinson’s disease is a neurological disorder in which the motor neurons are affected. In this disease the various muscle groups of the body are affected that ultimately causes the stiffness of the muscles, as well as slowness, there is increased difficulty in standing and there are tremors of the limbs. As this disease progresses, the situation and the quality of life of an individual worsens along with it and it becomes most difficult in terms of walking, talking, doing activities of daily living and this just gets worse and worse over time.

All the movement in our body is controlled through our brain. For us it is so simple that when we want to move one part of our body and we are able to move it, but this is really a very complex mechanism that involves so many neurochemicals, nerves, synapses and they all work as a team to perform one single movement. It is really important for us to understand as to how our brain controls the movement so that we are able to understand things in a better context. Our brain makes very complex decisions in terms of what muscles need to be used, what is the specific power that needs to be exerted, how to position the body while applying the power of the muscles, how to maintain that position, how to balance etc. and all these decisions are being taken by the brain thus making even the single movement quite complex.

This information is then relayed to the area of the brain, which is known as striatum, which is responsible to control the movement of the body. This area of the brain, which is striatum also works with another part of the brain known as the substantia nigra to control the body for balance and coordination. From these areas in the brain, the signals are then passed onto the spinal cord through the nerves and then are relayed onto the muscles, which will cause the movement to occur.

In order to understand as to how these nerves communicate with each other, we need to understand that the nervous system is composed of a large network of cells known as the nerve cells and these nerve cells then communicate with each other through the chemicals, which are known as the neurotransmitters and these neurotransmitters then carry the signals from one nerve to another through the synapses that is present between the nerve cells. Through these neurotransmitters the nervous system then communicates with the body muscles and then communicates the message of the brain to move with how much power and in what direction and what body position to maintain while applying the power of the muscle.

Another very important factor that needs to be mentioned here is that the most important messenger that is being produced in the brain is the dopamine that is being made in the substantia nigra. The dopamine is a very important neurotransmitter in terms of maintaining the human movement and helps to transmit the messages to the striatum to initiate and control the movement as well as the balance of the body. The main function of the dopamine neurotransmitter is that it causes the muscles to work smoothly and give the precise control that is needed to perform the precise function of the specific muscles.

The process with which the dopamine message is relayed is that the nerve cell produces the dopamine that is collected at the end of the nerve and then the dopamine is then secreted into the synapses and then these dopamine particles flow into the synapse to the other top end of the nerve fiber into the pockets that are present on the head of the nerve cell and stimulate that nerve cell, which then initiates the same process in the other cell and this information then passes on and on till it reaches the last nerve cells from where the action is carried out.

A very important factor that really needs to be taken into account is that the dopamine that was in the pocket of the adjacent nerve cell after being released into the synapse, then is being ejected out of the pocket so that there is not a continuous effect that stays there that causes a constant release of the dopamine from the successive nerve cells, therefore the dopamine is then ejected out and then it is being broken down by the chemical known as MAO-B. The breakdown of the dopamine is essential in order to produce the precise movement that is needed.

Along with the dopamine, another transmitter that works in conjunction is the acetylcholine. Both these neurotransmitters work in conjunction. The balance is being maintained when the acetylcholine and the dopamine are present in the equal amounts, because acetylcholine and dopamine work together and if the balance is being disturbed then the movement process is all messed up because acetylcholine causes the contraction of the muscles where as the dopamine works to antagonize that effect and that is how a balanced movement takes place to perform the exact movement that is needed at that point in time.

What happens in Parkinson’s disease is not yet fully understood but the research has revealed that the part of the brain that produces the dopamine just starts to decrease. The dopamine is being made in the substantia nigra. Due to the low amount of dopamine being produced as well as the phenomena with which the dopamine is being continuously broken down just keeps on depleting the dopamine and this results in a great loss of this neurotransmitter and the balance between the dopamine and the acetylcholine just gets disturbed in which the dopamine is depleting where as the acetylcholine is in the normal amounts. Since there is high quantity of acetylcholine present now, which is actually the normal amount, but has become quite high because of the low amount of the dopamine present, this just results in prolonged contractions of the muscles, which was before being balanced by dopamine by cutting down the effect of acetylcholine. High amount of acetylcholine results in the uncoordinated movements, tremors, stiff muscles and joints and difficulty ambulating.

The team of biologists that has been working on finding the right drug for the Parkinson’s disease have said that they have found a new insight into the development of a drug that would clearly help in providing a better life to a lot of individuals who are suffering from the Parkinson’s disease.

In the Parkinson’s disease, there is presence of proteins, known as Lewy bodies, which is a pathological finding that is being found under the microscope. It is these bodies that are known to be really toxic to the neurons. The scientists are not sure as to why these proteins clump in the nerve cells. This mysterious protein is known asn the alpha synuclein. The scientists have said that they think that the presence of these clumps of proteins might be due to the breakdown of the neurotransmitters in large amounts in the synapses and due to congestion of the traffic of these neurotransmitters, it is possible that these neurotransmitters just get clumped in the nerve cell. The scientists have been able to make reverse the damage in the laboratory organisms by inserting the genes that cancels out the synuclein.

They said that since they are able to achieve to degrade the clumps down, this is a major breakthrough that they have achieved and they believe that after subsequent researches they will be able to make the breakthrough that will help to degrade the clumps in the nerve cells and that would be able to help millions and millions of people throughout the world.

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Parkinson’s is growing in a lot number cases that are emerging at a very high pace and it has been found that if this number grows the way it is increasing then it will very soon touch the figure of about 2 million in the coming years only in the US. These numbers are pretty alarming and there are a lot of scientists who are researching on the different things that can stop this disease and the serious effects of this illness, which cause an individual to be crippled totally. Parkinson’s is a neurological disorder and thus is eating out a lot of people each year. The quality of life of these people who are suffering from the Parkinson’s disease is just very poor where they are unable to do the activities of the daily living and thus are totally dependent on their loved ones to take their care. Parkinson’s slowly eat out the individual and therefore leads to a miserable end of an individual, which is very painful for the ones who are near that person. If we see around, we will find families here and there where there are individuals who are suffering from the Parkinson’s disease and if we meet those people, we can clearly see that they are going through a misery to see their loved one in the pain and suffering that he or she is going through, but they or the modern science cannot do anything for them and they are just waiting for that day where they would hear that there is a cure for this disease and they have a good chance of surviving as well as having a very good quality of life.

Parkinson’s disease is cause by the clumps of proteins that aggregate in the synapses of the nerves and these are caused by the degradation of the areas of the brain that make the neurotransmitter known as dopamine. Dopamine just balances out the motor function in the body along with the acetylcholine and its decreasing amount just leads to serious effects on the body, which includes the tremors, gait instability, slurring of speech, muscular stiffness and this is something that just worsens day by day. There are medicines that are being given that contains the dopamine and that slows down the disease process to some degree but the problem just slowly and gradually goes on till it impairs the functional capacity of an individual and leads them to live a terrible life.

The scientists are unable to understand as to what is the actual cause of the Parkinson’s disease that causes the damage of the areas of the brain that produces the dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain. There was a study that was conducted recently on rats in which it was found that if the rats are exposed to the pesticide for a long term, it kills the brain cells that have are producing the neurotransmitter, dopamine and thus it leads to the development of a problem known as Parkinson’s disease. This is a very important research that has shown us as to what is the thing that causes Parkinson’s in rats and they are yet to perform experiments on the humans to find whether that the pesticides have the same effect as they have on humans. The scientists are believing of what they have long thought of that the pesticides have toxins in them and that might be the cause of Parkinson’s in humans.

There was another account in which it was said that the pesticide that was used in the study, known as rotenone, is the pesticide that causes the Parkinson’s in the humans. The scientists believe that this study that was being conducted on the rats have suggested that it caused Parkinson’s and that these environmental toxins can contribute to the Parkinson’s and that just strengthens their belief in doing more researches to find that what are the specific toxins that can truly cause Parkinson’s in the individuals, which is the most common neurological disorder after the Alzheimer’s.

As far as now, there has been no cure for the Parkinson’s disease that has been found. There are new therapies that are being worked on and there are hopes that there would be a time, which should be soon when there would be a treatment that would be found for the Parkinson’s disease and there would be millions of people throughout the world who would be finding the benefit from that. The government has not been funding the experiments that have been using the embryonic tissues in their researches. It is a fact that in about 10 percent of patients, the disease Parkinson’s attacks before the age of 50.

It is being thought that the people in their 50s or 60s are more prone to develop Parkinson’s and this might be due to the chronic exposure of the toxins and among those chemicals include the pesticides, industrial chemicals, as well as tobacco. The experiment that the scientists conducted, they put in tiny pumps inside the rats and this just constantly gave out low doses of rotenone through the jugular veins for the period of about five weeks, whereas rotenone is an agricultural pesticide and is also used as an agent to kill the unwanted fish in the reservoirs. They added that this chemical is ingested frequently through food and can also be ingested by handling the compounds. The scientists added that they gave the rotenone through the jugular veins because the rats might not eat that and that would have been jeopardized the entire research project. They said that the rats gradually started to show the Parkinson’s symptoms because of the administration of that chemical.

By examination of the brain of the rats, it was found that the substantia nigra that is responsible to produce the dopamine was getting damaged and that the rats were not producing as much nicotine as they were before and their nerve cells were showing the protein deposits, which were like the Lewy body deposits, which are found in the cells of Parkinson’s patients.

The scientists added that they do not know as to how the rotenone caused the trigger of Parkinson’s in these rats but it was sure now that these toxic chemicals that are being used as pesticide can cause the development of a very dangerous neurological disorder among a lot of individuals and that can totally change their lives forever and that is the worst part of their lives and it was also said that it needs to seen as to what can be done in later years when it is sure that these pesticides cause Parkinson’s in the individuals because something needs to be done to replace them so that a large population can be prevented to suffer from this debilitating illness.

There was another study conducted in humans where the individuals who took part in the research were about 143,000 men and women and they had no disease at the time when they filled out the questionnaires until 2001. These individuals were asked about their jobs and the potential exposure to the hazardous chemicals. It was found that there were about 413 individuals who developed the Parkinson’s disease as these were the individuals who spent a lot of time near the pesticides. It was found that these individuals who did not have any exposure to the pesticides did not develop the Parkinson’s disease and then it was being suggested that we all should be very careful in our using the pesticides cause there is a relation that it causes Parkinson’s disease when it comes in contact in long term exposures.

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The topic that we are going to discuss in today’s article is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and that it can be treated with fish oil. But before we share the study as to what was being found as to how the fish oil helped the people who were suffering from attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, we would like to focus on what attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is, so that you would have a general know how on this subject. Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder is a condition in which the individual who is suffering from it just does not pay attention to their surroundings as to what is being said to them and they are hyperactive, as well as have emotional instability and poor coordination and impulsiveness and learning disorders.

The researchers added that this condition is very common in the children who are of school going ages and the incidence of this problem is between four and twenty percent. It is also being stated that this is not only present in children, but the adults are also affected by this disorder. It is being estimated that there are about two million children only in the US who are suffering from the attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, which is a very high figure. We can also understand that there is one child in a class of 25 students who is suffering from this disorder. Raising a child who is suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a challenge. It requires a lot of patience on part of parents who must know that their child is suffering from this disorder because he or she will not be listening to what their parents are saying and their parents should understand that they are actually suffering from a problem and it is because of that they will not listen to what they are talking about because he just does not have the proper attention to them. There is a large network of parents that a couple can connect to, to understand as to how the different parents are coping up and raising their kid who is suffering from this disorder. There are also guidance counselors, as well as the public education systems through which the parents can take their guidance from.

The children who are suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are hyperactive and impulsive as is being said earlier. They are always on a go, always moving around. They are just living in their own world and do what comes in their mind without giving a thought for a moment as to what would be the results of that. They are seen in a constant fidgety motion or one can find them talking to themselves on a continuous basis. They are always restless and just do not feel like interacting with their parents, they only do that when they want to.

The thing that we should remember is that we cannot label every kid who is showing the hyperimpulsivity as a child who is suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, but there is a set criteria that must be met before we can really label the kid as the one who is suffering from this illness. The main areas that are seen to see as to how the kid is performing in that area includes that this behavior must appear before the age of 7 and must continue for at least about 6 months. The child must be handicap in at least two of the situations in his or her life that includes the behavior in the school room, in the play ground, at home, in the community, as well as social settings. So if a child who is not keeping up with the homework, but is someone who has a network of friends cannot be labeled as the child who is suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. There has to be at least two of the criteria that must be met before the child is being labeled as having the disorder.

Before the parents think that their child is suffering from attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, it is really important that they consult a physician first because there are a lot of aspects that need to be seen before labeling the child as the one going through that disorder. The parents when feel that the child is going through that disorder, they can contact their pediatrician, which can then further direct the parents to the psychologist or the psychiatrist so that the diagnosis can be established in a proper time and the proper course of action can be taken.

It must be noted that the specialists such as psychologists can diagnose a child but they cannot prescribe them the medication, where as the psychiatrists can diagnose a child and they can also prescribe the medication as well. The specialist who makes the diagnosis, interviews the parents, teachers and the individuals who are associated with the child to assess as to when the problem started to arise and for how long this child has been suffering from the problems and what were the different behaviors that the child has been showing so as to clearly understand as to what are the different conditions and what are the different times in which the child is showing these attitudes before the psychologist or the psychiatrist can make their diagnosis that the child is suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The major cause that is being described that leads to the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is that it is a genetic disorder and is being inherited, there is also evidence that the exposure to the tobacco smoke, as well as alcohol also poses a high risk of development of the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in the children during pregnancy. It is the boys who are more affected than the girls and the reason for that is established that the baby boys need three times more the essential fatty acids than the baby girls in order to achieve the normal neonatal and infant development.
According to the latest research it was found that the fish oil supplements can be a whole lot effective in managing the hyperactivity disorder in the children than taking the drugs of the stimulant category such as the Ritalin.

The research was conducted on about 132 children who were the ages of 7 to 12 years and were suffering from the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The children who were given a mix of omega 3 fatty acids and omega 6 fatty acids, primrose oil, about half of them were seen to have significant reduction in the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and this is a major breakthrough in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

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