Parkinson's Disease: Progression, Symptoms, Cognitive tests

Parkinson’s disease is defined as an ailment in which the central nervous system is affected which leads to people experiencing tremors. The nerve cells in the brain are damaged in this disease. There are more than one million cases of Parkinson’s in a year.

People may experience various bodily changes like restlessness during sleep, early waking, fatigue, dizziness, amnesia, leaking of urine, no sense of smell to name a few.

To name one, Parkinson’s fuzzy head is one such symptom. Doctors make an effort to treat such a condition by putting people on medications that will increase the dopamine levels in the body. Apart from this, it is advised that self–care is very important. Practicing yoga and eating healthy food can further result in a reduced level of Parkinson’s disease. 

If you are in the initial stage of this disease, it can be diagnosed with Parkinson’s cognitive tests. There are around six tests that can help you in determining whether you are having this condition or not.

CANTAB is one of the tests that include research about the cognitive imbalance within the body. The tests under CANTAB focus on the decreased levels of dopamine in the patient’s body and other related stimulations. Cognitive impairment can take place in the body if it is not treated. Thus, these tests can help you in determining the stage of the ailment within the body.   

Now, there are various cognitive exercises for Parkinson’s which you can do if you are suffering. These are the stimulation activities that help in fighting this disease. 

1. Knitting a Scarf
2. Finding Monuments
3. Matching Pairs
4. Word Search
5. Moving Cubes
6. Find the Repeated Word 
7. Word Association
8. Biking
9. Running
10. Dance
11. Yoga
12. Weight Lifting

These are some of the stimulation exercises that will have a positive effect on people having Parkinson’s. You can do any exercise for that matter. But these are some of the activities that you can do and practice. There are various symptoms of Parkinson’s like mental, physical, emotional etc.

Emotional symptoms of Parkinson’s include anxiety, apathy, depression and mood swings. These mood swings worsen the functioning of the body thereby, reducing the standard of living. Therefore, it is important to keep yourself emotionally stable. In this ailment, it is hard to do this by yourself. So, your loved ones can help you out with this. Parkinson’s also affects moods frequently.     

How bad can Parkinson’s disease get?

This is often asked by the people. Well, Parkinson’s disease does not lead to instant death. But, it pressurizes the body which makes the patients somewhat vulnerable and more prone to this disease. This can further lead to severe infections within the body if treatment is not provided on time. Thus, if the right amount of medications is provided then the patient can be saved at an initial stage. 

How does Parkinson’s disease affect your memory?

Parkinson’s disease shows the signs of damage by the physical symptoms in the body. The problem escalates further when a person experiences a loss of concentration and forgetfulness. As the ailment worsens, people develop dementia. In this condition, the person suffers from a huge memory loss. In such cases, a person is not able to recall anything from the past which makes it hard for the person dealing with it. 

Cognitive impairments happen at every stage further worsening the condition. Thus, Parkinson’s affects the patient’s memory slowly and stealthily. Parkinson’s disease cognitive symptoms include a reduction in bodily function, memory diseases, unable to concentrate and learn and many other difficulties. This disease can only be healed with medications and yoga. Thus, these symptoms must not be ignored if someone is suffering from them.     

Does Parkinson’s affect decision – making?

Well yes, Parkinson’s affects decision–making among people. People are not able to make judgments about other people. Due to this, sometimes, the patients are misled because they do not remember anything and also do not have the ability to see whether a particular person is good or bad. The mental health worsens in this case and it becomes very hard for the patients to recognize their relatives. Thus, the decision – making is affected in Parkinson’s disease.   

Now, many people do not know about Parkinson’s MoCA score. MoCA score is basically the scale of cognitive impairment. This score is undertaken by the doctors to determine the number of incapabilities a patient has. When this is determined, the doctor gives the medications in relation to the score.

If a patient has a score of 26, then it is considered normal. When the score drops to 22 then the patient experiences a mild cognitive impairment. In the worst case scenario, patients have Alzheimer’s syndrome where the score becomes 16. There is the loss of memory, concentration, focus and other body-related ailments. This test is 94% accurate. Thus, the MoCA test determines what the patient is suffering from. 

Parkinson’s disease is treatable if the medications are given on time to the patients. If you feel that you are experiencing fatigue or dizziness, there is a lack of sleep or restlessness in sleep; then you must undergo the Parkinson’s cognitive test. This test will help you in determining the stage you are at. Then, you can take medications accordingly. Along with this, eating a healthy diet and practicing yoga is very important. It is important to take care of yourself. Thus, this disease can be treated if recognized at an early stage.

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