China News Service, Beijing, April 11 (Zhang Yilin) ​​April 11 is World Parkinson's Day.

Parkinson's disease is a common neurodegenerative disease of the elderly. According to data, there are more than 3 million Parkinson's disease patients in China.

When it comes to Parkinson's, the first reaction of many people is "hand shake".

Shaking hands is Parkinson's disease?

How to prevent and treat Parkinson's?

Data map.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Yang Kejia

Parkinson's - not so far away

  Parkinson's disease is a typical chronic disease of the elderly. With the increase of life expectancy worldwide, the incidence of Parkinson's disease is increasing year by year.

  According to public data, the prevalence of Parkinson's disease among the elderly over 65 years old in China is 1.7%. According to this calculation, the number of Parkinson's patients in China may exceed 3 million.

With the intensification of population aging, China is about to become the world's largest country with Parkinson's disease population.

  According to Wang Han, chief physician of the Department of Neurology of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Parkinson's disease mainly affects middle-aged and elderly people.

However, in recent years, Parkinson's disease patients have shown a trend of younger people. All age groups from teenagers to old people are likely to suffer from the disease, and there are slightly more men than women.

"Hand shake" = Parkinson's?

  The term "hand tremor" is called tremor, and it is a typical symptom of Parkinson's in the eyes of the public.

It is true that many patients experience tremors of the hands, but this is not a necessary characteristic of all patients with Parkinson's disease.

Some patients have only stiffness in the limbs and no tremors, which are called non-tremor Parkinson's.

  In fact, slowness of movement is the core symptom of Parkinson's disease.

Patients may feel inflexible in fine movements such as brushing teeth, beating eggs, rolling dumpling wrappers, not swinging their arms freely when walking, writing smaller characters, and dull expressions.

  In addition, Parkinson's disease also has many non-motor symptoms, including loss of smell, low mood, sleep problems, decreased intelligence, frequent urination, intractable constipation, etc., which usually require multidisciplinary participation to provide better Comprehensive treatment plan.

  Wan Xinhua, chief physician of the Department of Neurology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, introduced that in addition to the clear limb stiffness and inactivity, Parkinson's disease may also have involuntary movement of the trunk and limbs or obvious abnormal posture during certain periods. dyskinesia or dystonia.

  With the progression of the disease, in the advanced stage, patients will walk unsteadily, fall easily, and eventually cannot walk independently and need to rely on a wheelchair or bed.

FILE PHOTO: A neurosurgeon demonstrates the process of implanting a brain pacemaker in a patient with Parkinson's.

Photo by Chen Chao

How to prevent and manage Parkinson's disease?

  The onset of Parkinson's disease is multifactorial and is currently considered to be the result of a combination of genetics and environment.

  Wang Han said that the onset of the patient is not unrelated to age.

Carrying certain genes can lead to a high risk of developing Parkinson's disease.

Some environmental factors (such as occupational exposure to heavy metals, pesticides, etc.) will make the disease more likely to occur, which reminds the public to avoid or reduce exposure to harmful factors as much as possible during occupational and environmental exposure.

  In addition, studies in recent years have also found some protective factors, such as physical exercise, caffeine, etc.

Exercises such as Tai Chi, yoga, and tango have also been shown to delay the progression of Parkinson's disease.

Therefore, a healthy lifestyle and physical activity remain the general health laws, and Parkinson's disease is no exception.

  Parkinson's disease is a chronic, non-fatal disease. Most patients have a disease course of more than ten years and require lifelong treatment.

With the gradual aggravation of symptoms, many symptoms will seriously affect the quality of life of patients, so early treatment and full management are advocated to continuously improve the quality of life of patients.

  Doctors said that there is no complete cure yet, but there are many options for symptomatic treatment, including drugs, surgery, functional rehabilitation, psychology, nutrition, etc.

Multidisciplinary participation helps to develop a personalized treatment plan.

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