The 2nd World Parkinson Congress has just been held.
There is the glimmer of hope that stem cell research can offer improved quality of life and halt disease progression. This unfortunately is not the sort of treatment we could ever provide within our local resources in The Grove.
80000 Australians have Parkinson’s. 25 are diagnosed every day.
There are less than 100 neurologists in Australia managing people living with Parkinsons. Australia’s public health systtem employs about 6 specialist Parkinson’s nurses.
A diagnosis can take 2 years or more even when symptoms are noticeable.
Early diagnosis leads to more effective treatment.
It is a progressive and complex disease that can affect movement speech mood mental health.
A combination of drugs and physical therapies can control symptoms but are a long-term big expense. Medicines here are old-fashioned with more acute side effects than some options available elsewhere.
90% of GPs aren’t adequately trained to diagnose and manage Parkinsons and other neurological conditions.
Parkinson’s sufferers are stigmatised. 1 in 5 is of working age.
Support groups provide a lifeline for Parkinson’s sufferers helping them share information and experience but funds have not been available to set them up.
There is the Victorian Comprehensive Parkinson’s Program in Melbourne which is seen as a global model for the management of Parkinson’s. They use a specialist multidisciplinary team of GPs dieticians social workers clinical psychologists speech therapists all schooled in Parkinson’s management.
As the disease progresses it gets more complications. There can be problems walking getting out of bed swallowing…
People need to be taught to compensate for their impairments.
Parkinson’s develops when nerve cells in the brain die leading to a shortage of the chemical dopamine. Up to 70% of nerve cells in the brain may be gone by the time motor problems traditionally associated with Parkinson’s appear.
Symptoms that may indicate the early stages of Parkinson’s include sleep problems and changes in handwriting. Early diagnosis makes a big difference to management but needs GPs trained to spot the disease when obvious symptoms are lacking.