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All About Parkinson’s Disease

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What Are The Causes of Parkinson’s Disease?

The symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are caused by a loss of nerve cells (dopaminergic cells) in a part of the brain called the substantia nigra (literally means “black substance”). The dopaminergic cells are responsible for producing dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter; it helps transmit messages from the brain that control and coordinate body movements - dopamine allows the substantia nigra and another area of the brain, the corpus striatum to communicate; this communication coordinates proper muscle movement.

If the Dopaminergic cells in the brain are damage or perish, dopamine production goes down and the messages from the substantia nigra and the corpus striatum do not work properly. Parkinson’s disease signs and symptoms appear when four-fifths of these nerve cells are lost. As dopamine levels continue to drop, the signs and symptoms of Parkinson’s disease get worse.

Put simply:

• Parkinson’s disease is caused by the degeneration or destruction of dopamine-producing nerve cells (dopaminergic cells), which in turn makes it harder for the brain to control and coordinate muscle movement.

Experts are not sure why the nerve cells that cause Parkinson’s disease become damaged or die.

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This Parkinson's disease information section was written by Christian Nordqvist for Medical News Today, and may not be re-produced in any way without the permission of Medical News Today.

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Sources of information:

• National Health Service (NHS), UK
• The Mayo Clinic, USA
• Wikipedia

Further information

• Useful Parkinson's Disease Website Links

Disclaimer: This guide is provided for general information purposes only. The materials contained within this guide do not constitute medical or pharmaceutical advice, which should be sought from qualified medical and pharmaceutical advisers. Full disclaimer.

© MediLexicon International Ltd

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