Parkinson's Disease: A Growing Concern

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder affecting the central nervous system, with gradually deteriorating motor abilities. After Alzheimer's disease, it is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder. Hallucinations or delusions occur in 50% of the cases with Parkinson's disease, and may indicate the start of dementia. There is no cure for Parkinson's disease, but various treatment pathways aimed at providing relief such as surgery, physical treatment and medications are available to improve quality of life. Typically, antiparkinson medications such as levodopa with dopamine agonists are prescribed for patients in the initial stages of the disease. Lesional and deep brain stimulation surgery is performed on those for whom medications fail. This book covers in detail some existing theories and innovative concepts revolving around Parkinson's disease. Its objective is to give a general view of the different clinical aspects of this disease. A number of latest researches have been included in this book to keep the readers up-to-date with the global concepts in this area of study.