From the Editor

Parkinson’s disease is a slowly progressing, degenerative disorder of the nervous system; Parkinson’s disease has several distinguishing characteristics: tremour (shaking) when at rest, sluggish irritation of movements, and muscle rigidity.Parkinson’s is a group of neurological disorders marked by hypokinesia, tremour, and muscular rigidity, including the Parkinsonian syndrome and Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease affects about 1 in every 250 people over 40 years old and about 1 in every 100 people over 65 years old.
Deep within the brain is an area known as the basal ganglia. When the brain initiates an action such as lifting an arm, nerve cells in the basal ganglia help smooth the movements and coordinate changes in posture. The basal ganglia process signals and transmit messages to the deep lying thalamus, which relays the processed information back to the cerebral cortex.
Parkinson’s disease begins subtly and progresss gradually. In many people it begins with a tremour in the hand while the hand is at rest; the tremour decreases when the hand is moving purposefully and disappears completely during sleep.
Our cover this week is on Parkinson’s disease. Nerve cells in basal ganglia degenerate in Parkinson’s disease resulting in lower production of dopamine and fewer connections with other nerve cells and muscles.  
Emotional stress or fatigue may increase the tremour which has a smooth, rhythmic quality. Although the tremour starts in one hand, it may gradually progress to arms, legs, the jaws, tongue, forehead and eyelids may also affected by a tremour.
Parkinson’s disease is treatable and controllable with various modern drugs including Levodopa, Bromocriptin etc.

From the Editor

Parkinsons disease is a slowly progressing, degenerative disorder of the nervous system; Parkinsons disease has several distinguishing characteristics: tremour (shaking) when at rest, sluggish irritation of movements, and muscle rigidity.Parkinsons is a group of neurological disorders marked by hypokinesia, tremour, and muscular rigidity, including the Parkinsonian syndrome and Parkinsons disease. Parkinsons disease affects about 1 in every 250 people over 40 years old and about 1 in every 100 people over 65 years old. Deep within the brain is an area known as the basal ganglia. When the brain initiates an action such as lifting an arm, nerve cells in the basal ganglia help smooth the movements and coordinate changes in posture. The basal ganglia process signals and transmit messages to the deep lying thalamus, which relays the processed information back to the cerebral cortex. Parkinsons disease begins subtly and progresss gradually. In many people it begins with a tremour in the hand while the hand is at rest; the tremour decreases when the hand is moving purposefully and disappears completely during sleep. Our cover this week is on Parkinsons disease. Nerve cells in basal ganglia degenerate in Parkinsons disease resulting in lower production of dopamine and fewer connections with other nerve cells and muscles. Emotional stress or fatigue may increase the tremour which has a smooth, rhythmic quality. Although the tremour starts in one hand, it may gradually progress to arms, legs, the jaws, tongue, forehead and eyelids may also affected by a tremour. Parkinsons disease is treatable and controllable with various modern drugs including Levodopa, Bromocriptin etc.