April 11th marks World Parkinson's Day, with the aim of this date to inform and raise awareness of this disease that affects 1% of the world's population over 65 years of age.
In Portugal, there is the Portuguese Association of Parkinson's Patients whose role is to provide support to patients and their families, and according to APDPk, around 20,000 Portuguese people have been diagnosed with this neurodegenerative disorder.
Parkinson's is a degenerative and progressive neurological disease of the central nervous system and the cause of this disease is still unknown, but it is assumed to have several factors.
The disease manifests itself and progresses differently in each person, but in 70% of cases it begins with a localized tremor, generally in one upper limb when at rest, followed by the other limb on the same side. In addition to tremors, the most common symptoms are muscle stiffness, changes in speech and writing.
Unfortunately, there is still no cure, but there are medications that control symptoms and also certain practices, such as: Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy and even Surgery for deep brain stimulation.