Need information on Parkinson's

This should get you started.

http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/content/about-parkinsons

I have a whole lesson on Parkinsons which includes a lot of info but not that... I think it does depend on the individual. The progression of the disease is based on the loss of the specialised tissues that produce Dopamine - the Substantia Nigra. How quickly these tissues decay depends on a lot of factors (and there are many causes for it) and you also have to take into account the fact that sometimes you can get 'Parkinson's like symptoms' without it being Parkinson's. So for one disease with one name you have a hell of a lot of variation there even before you start adding in gender and age variants...

My advice would be to see if you can find a case study online that matches the age and gender of your character and use that as a guide - how quickly do their symptoms develop, how they were treated etc will all be in there.

Regarding information on the disease itself, I can ask for answers on the specifics of the disease and its progression, but medications vary a lot by the individual and their healthcare system, same as any other complicated issue - and a lot by era, too. Things change as new medications arrive and side-effects of medicines in use become more known.

Regarding information on doctor/specialist/nurse/carer visits etc., that's down to the country and area the patient is in, or in some cases how wealthy they are.

I have had a nervous twitch since around 5th grade from a dopamine issue. It is kind of like a very mild Tourette's syndrome and can be acompanied by vocal tics as well. It is no where near as bad as Parkinson's but is similar in nature. I have it mostly under control with no medication now, but it used to be a lot worse in my adolescent years, and I can tell you from a mental perspective it was very stressful and depressing as a teen while I was learning to deal with it and the comments from everyone at school. For my condition, as a child/teen, I would go see the doctor every few months, mostly for a checkup, and they occasionally put me on medication but it made me fall asleep in class, so I had them take me back off of it, learning to live with the condition. It got a lot better in my mid to late 20's. As far as medicine prescribed and doctor's visits, others here may have info or you can probably find it with search engine research. They put me on Clonidine(sp?) for a bit if I remember correctly, which I believe is also a blood pressure medicine.


Oh, one other thing. I don't know if there is a single test for Parkinson's, but for my condition, it was never fully diagnosed even after probably three dozen doctors visits with lots of testing. I'm not sure how easy it would be to diagnose that it was Parkinson's or some other nervousness issue just from hand tremors, so that may be something to research also.

Then there's the treatment with nicotine that has been found to cure Parkinson's. When tobacco smokers get Parkinson's, which is quite rare, it progresses very slowly and can readily be reversed.

Troyen said:

King Neptune, that is interesting. And it is the first I've heard of that. I guess there is one health benefit of smoking. But I'd have to say that the risks outweigh the benefits and my character is not a smoker.

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By itself nicotine is fairly safe. There is no more risk from nicotine than from any other drug that can be toxic in overdose.

Everyone else, thanks a lot! I think it may actually be helpful that the disease is so varied. That leaves me a lot of room to make it work the way I need. I don't really need specific names for meds or exacts on the doctor visits. I was really looking for an estimate on how many meds she might take (one... several...) and to know if she would need to see a doctor fairly often. This is a woman in her upper thirties if that helps anyone with info.

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Generally one medicine is adequate for most people with Parkinson's, from what I understand.

Forgive me if i've missed it, but i don't think anyone has said yet - if you are writing a character with an illness you are unfamiliar with, it's very important that you actually talk to people with that illness. This is easy to do with the internet - google search for Parkinson's forums, make a post explaining that you're a writer looking for people to interview for research, and what you're looking for. You need to talk to the people you're representing.

Re: the nicotine thing... most of the health risks from smoking are due to the coal tar (this has been known since the 50's when they rubbed coal tar into rabbit ears proving it was a carcinogen).

Nicotine itself does have risks but by no means as severe as smoking with all the other things in there.

And yes you do need to talk to actual people with the disorder to get an insight into it. I'd also suggest doing a thorough websearch, there are some videos out there including one of an electroshock treatment for severe cases where drug treatment fails if you wanted a more unusual approach to it.

Troyen, PM sent.

One caveat regarding nicotine treatment.

I'm a primary care physician. I treat parkinsons. I've never heard of nicotine therapy. I consulted a widely used medical resource (Up-To-Date) and it had no mention of it.

Now I also googled it, and there is stuff out there on it, but what my point would be is that if you decide to use nicotine as a treatment in the story, be aware that is "experimental" or "alternative" or whatever non-mainstream word sounds best to you.

Plains pens - I have to say I have never heard of Nicotine for Parkinson's either but did not have time when posting to look them up as you did. I agree it did sound dodgy to me but I commented on the relative safety of nicotine not on its efficacy against any disorder So thank you for the comment clearing that up.