Parkinson's Disease Causes, Symptoms and Treatments
Karen Blindauer, MD, neurologist, describes Parkinson's disease and its symptoms — both motor and non-motor. Dr. Blindauer also discusses treatment options, including deep brain stimulation, offered by our Parkinson's and Movement Disorders Program.
An estimated 1 million people in the U.S. have Parkinson's disease, and about 15 000 are in Wisconsin. It's a chronic and progressive disease, meaning the symptoms become worse over time. Here to tell us more is Dr. Karen Blindauer, a neurologist with the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network.
What is Parkinson's disease?
Parkinson's disease is a neurological condition that can affect movement among other symptoms, and it's second in prevalence just behind Alzheimer's disease.
What are some of the signs and symptoms?
The signs and symptoms of Parkinson's can be divided into motor and non-motor symptoms. Some of the motor symptoms can involve:
- A tremor or shaking of a limb
- Stiffness
- Slowness of movement
- Change in walking
- Loss of balance
- Loss of volume of the voice
- Difficulty with speaking or swallowing
Some of the non-motor symptoms can involve changes in mood or memory — symptoms such as depression or anxiety, loss of motivation, and Parkinson's can even impact the inner organs and cause difficulty with bowel and bladder function.
What are some of the treatment options your team offers?
So, fortunately, at the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network, we have a comprehensive program that offers multidisciplinary care to cover all of those symptoms that I just mentioned that people with Parkinson's might experience. We offer medication therapy. We have clinical trials to offer cutting-edge treatments that aren't available anywhere else in the region, and we also offer deep brain stimulation. Deep brain stimulation is a surgical intervention that involves implanting wires into the brain and connecting them to pacemaker-type devices in the chest that are called neural stimulators. We can change how the brain functions and impact the symptoms of Parkinson's by how we program those neurostimulators. Many patients just experience outstanding results that have a huge impact on their quality of life.
Find a doctor who's right for you by visiting froedtert.com/movement.
