Parkinson's Disease Symptoms and Treatments

It's estimated 1 million people in the United States have Parkinson's disease, with about 90,000 people diagnosed each year. Parkinson's is a chronic and progressive disease, meaning symptoms become worse over time. Here to tell us more is Kunal Gupta, MD, PhD, a neurosurgeon with the Froedtert & MCW health network. 

What is Parkinson's disease? 

Parkinson's disease is one of the most common neurogenerative disorders in the United States. The number of patients with Parkinson's disease continues to increase over time. It's caused by the loss of dopamine producing neurons in the brain, and these cells are responsible for a number of different functions. These include movement, motivation and mood. 

What are some of the signs and symptoms of Parkinson's disease? 

There are a number of different signs and symptoms in Parkinson's disease, and these can vary from patient to patient. The main symptom people experience are movement related, so this includes tremor, slowness, stiffness, difficulty initiating movement and walking. 

There are a number of other symptoms as well that include memory dysfunction, cognition, sleep disruption, as well as changes in digestion — including speech and swallowing, constipation and difficulty with food transit through the stomach. 

What are the different Parkinson's disease treatment options your team offers?

There are a number of treatment options available. An important one we could all be doing a lot more of is exercise. It can help improve movement, strength and balance in patients with Parkinson's disease. When you meet your neurologist an important one is medication related, and this can help restore dopamine balance in the brain. 

Certain patients are candidates for surgical therapies with a neurosurgeon such as myself. This includes deep brain stimulation (DBS). We also have some exciting new therapies coming down the pipeline which include advanced technologies, as well as clinical trials including cell-based therapies.