Within the National Forum of Neurology, which takes place during this period at the Patriarchate Palace in Bucharest, was marked the “World Day fight against Parkinson’s disease”. We are talking about a serious, incurable degenerative disease that affects millions of people around the world.
Parkinson is triggered many years before the appearance of the first symptoms. Archive
One of the most representative degenerative neurological disorders worldwide and the second as a frequency after Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease affects about 6.5 million people worldwide. Almost one and a half million are Europeans, of which almost 80,000 are from Romania.
What is Parkinson’s disease. Causes, symptoms, treatment
Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative condition caused by the progressive destruction of neurons that cause dopamine. Genetics can play a role, patients with early onset being more likely to have a mutation associated with this disease. However, about 80% of cases with early onset and 93% of cases with late onset do not have a known cause.
The condition is usually diagnosed after 60-65 years, more frequently among men, which are 1.5 times higher to develop the disease, compared to the female population. However, Parkinson’s disease does not discriminate, so the condition can be installed earlier than 50 years, in about 10-20% of cases. Recent research indicates that the number of affected persons will double by 2050.
Causes of Parkinson’s disease
In Parkinson’s disease, certain nerve cells in the brain gradually decompose or die. Many of the symptoms occur as a result of losing neurons that produce a chemical messenger called dopamine. When dopamine levels decrease, normal brain activity is affected.
Parkinson, symptoms
The disease has over 40 symptoms and mainly affects movements and coordination, but can influence other aspects of physical and mental health, such as cognitive changes, speech difficulties, disposition disorders, the first lesions can occur even 20 years before the first signs. Symptoms of Parkinson’s disease worsen as the disease progresses over time, manifesting in five stages:
- Stage 1: Symptoms are mild and do not affect the quality of life;
- Stage 2: the symptoms worsen, the daily activities become more difficult and require more time to be fulfilled;
- Stage 3: This stage is equivalent to the average stage of the disease – loss of balance, slower movements, frequent falls;
- Stage 4: The symptoms are aggravated, and the assistance on walking and the daily activities is required;
- Stage 5: It is the most advanced stage of Parkinson’s disease, in which the affected people can no longer move alone, but they need permanently. 60% of the affected people have a rigid form of the disease.
Parkinson’s treatment
Parkinson’s disease does not heal, but there are drugs with which the symptoms can be kept under control. In general, these are drugs that increase the level of dopamine, act on other chemicals in the brain and help control non-motor symptoms. In the case of patients who do not respond to drug therapy, the doctor may recommend a deep stimulation of the brain, a procedure that involves implantation in certain areas of the brain of electrodes.
For the management of symptoms, alternative therapies can also be used. For example, massage can help reduce muscle tension, and Tai Chi and Yoga can improve flexibility and balance, helping to prevent falls. Physical, occupational and speech therapies can also help to relieve symptoms such as walking and speech disorders, tremor, muscle rigidity and cognitive problems. The natural treatment for Parkinson’s disease also involves certain changes in the diet: increasing the consumption of fiber and liquids to reduce constipation, increase the amount of salt in the diet and the consumption of small and frequent meals to avoid the problems caused by low blood pressure, modifying the diet to avoid the unintentional loss.
Doctor: “We are trying to diagnose as early as possible and more effective treatment”
“Unfortunately, the earliest signs in this disease are not found in the sphere of motor disorders but of vegetative disorders, sleep disorders, disposition disorders, which have nothing specific. For this reason, at the moment, one of the research directions in this field is to find the possibility of having a much earlier diagnosis than the one that is possible today in the world. And in terms of treatment, solutions are sought: either other molecules or modulation methods by functional neurosurgery, when patients no longer respond to drug treatment“Dr. Dafin Mureșanu, president of the European Federation of Neuroreability, said in the National Forum of Neurology.
He added that it is important to understand that through educational activities, through information and awareness, we can contribute to the reduction of stigmatization. “By creating an adequate environment to support the affected people to feel sustained, because, in short, it is up to each of us to build a more empathetic and informed community, to support the recovery and well -being of those living with Parkinson’s disease.“, The doctor said.
Patient: “We are degraded every day little by little”
In Romania, however, the patients have low chances for proper treatment and tailor -made care. Patients even say. “If no money is invested in research, we will not be saved ”, He said, for “Adevărul”, Adriana Totan, the president of the “Stronger than Parkinson’s disease” Association. “We need empathy, understanding, respect, help, money. Medicines are very expensive, nutrition for a Parkinson’s patient is a special and expensive one. We need carers, kinetotherapists, neurologists. It has no place to get so much money. Small pension, “Adriana Totan told us. “We do not allow ourselves private clinics, we are in the state of the state, which does nothing to help us. Or do too little.”
Parkinson’s patients need medical centers that work permanently and to provide them with a team of multidisciplinary doctors, but also the necessary medical devices “not to become robots. We can no longer speak, we can no longer swallow, we will become some vegetables that will make the lives of families hindering. The state does not give us anything. There are not even social workers to come home to the sick. No one knows what Parkinson’s disease means, ” the patient said.
As for the necessary medicines, they receive 100% compensated only three of the many they need. “The rule of three drugs granted for a diagnosis is respected. Therefore, if I need five medicines, the state only gives me three. I buy the rest, from my money. Or, we should be regarded as people who need great help. Because we are degraded every day little by little ”, Adriana Totan told us.
April 11, Parkinson’s disease awareness
On April 11, 2025, the Parkinson’s disease is celebrated internationally. On this occasion, information is organized worldwide through which information about this neurodegenerative condition is shared and about the impact it has on the daily life of those suffering from it.
On this occasion, the Association for Brain Health draws attention to the fact that at international level a doubling of Parkinson’s cases is estimated by 2050, being the neurological disorder with the highest growth. In addition, the diagnosis begins to occur more and more in younger people. Although this condition is most commonly encountered after the age of 65, in 2023 they were diagnosed in our country, according to INSP data, over 200 people under 50, 28 of them being under 35 years old.
In Romania, the number of newly diagnosed persons is on average, according to IMP 2019-2023 data, of 8,485 pers./an, in 2023 registering 10,032 pers. Newly diagnosed, about 20% more than in 2022 and 40% compared to 2019.
