Let’s go back in time over 200 years. We are in 1817. James Parkinson describes for the first time in his book “Essay on the Shaking Palsy” what for some has become the disease of “great men”. From Parkinson Cassius Clay, Arafat, Mao and Brezniev, among others, suffered from it, up to the modern actor Michael J. Fox. These are just some of the names that accompany this condition, which is of interest in Italy today at least 300,000 people.
Hope from stem cells
On the research front, it must be said that for the first time in the world neurons obtained from human embryonic stem cells have been implanted in the brains of people with Parkinson’s disease in Europe and the United States, with results that trial coordinators call “excellent”.
As reported Handlethe clinical trial, which started in February 2023 in Europe (in Sweden and Great Britain), was possible thanks to the studies conducted by three European consortia coordinated over the last 16 years by the University of Milan through the laboratory directed by Elena Cattaneo.
“The treatment of Parkinson’s disease with stem cells leads the way in considering the possibility that similar strategies can be applied also for other neurodegenerative diseaseslike Huntington’s chorea,” Cattaneo herself reported.
If this could be the future, the present is based above all on knowledge and personalized care for an increasingly widespread condition. On the occasion of National day dedicated to illnessa campaign by the Parkinson Italy Confederation reminds us that it is a condition that takes on different characteristics in each patient. Next to the tremorwhich is by far the best known symptom, there are others – over 402 – which combine with each other in a different way and with different intensity in each person.
What are the signs, symptoms and evolution of the disease
First of all, let’s dispel some clichés. It is not true that the pathology only affects the elderly, nor that the only symptom is tremor and that it does not cause pain. The reality is very different. There are cases even among young people.
One of the main signs is the slowness of movements (there is not always tremor) and pain can also be the first symptom of the disease. In short: the clinical picture of the disease is classically identified by slowness of movement (bradykinesia), by rigidity and from tremoreven if the latter is not always present.
The symptoms are caused by the degeneration and death of cells in a small area of the brain called the “black substance” which is the area capable of producing a neurotransmitter, the dopamineinvolved in the “control” of movement. They do not always present an equal intensity, determining, in relation to the prevalence of one over the other, the manifestation of different clinical forms.
There disability induced by Parkinson’s disease does not only correlate with the “movement disorder” but can also involve other systems such as the ccardiovascular, gastrointestinal, urinary. The evolution of the picture is variable, even if we are talking about a course that tends to be chronic and progressive. Thanks to the treatments there can be stabilization of the picture.
How the disease should be managed
“Even today there is a lot of confusion about Parkinson’s and it is thought that its only consequences are tremors, movement and balance problems – comments Giangi Milesi, President of the Parkinson Italy Confederation. False beliefs that I myself came up against when – after the diagnosis – I experienced the many different manifestations of the disease. Yet, in this multiplicity of situations there is a minimum common denominator: the desire to react and pursue one’s life goals and passions. Hence the choice to create an institutional campaign which, thanks to the telling of true reaction stories, can reveal the many different faces of Parkinson’s and thus dispel the clichés that characterize it”.
Parkinson’s is the neurodegenerative disease faster growing, with a prevalence that has doubled in the last 25 years and characterized by a multiplicity of symptoms that make its management difficult. To date, the medical community identifies multiple symptoms of Parkinson’s, ranging from muscle stiffness, slowness and tremor at rest to effects on mood, sleep, digestion, skin and smell.
“A complexity of manifestations that makes the diagnosis and daily management of the disease difficult: as doctors – says Paolo Calabresi, Professor of Neurology, Catholic University and director of the Neurology Unit at the A. Gemelli Irccs University Hospital – we are therefore called to help people with Parkinson’s to find the right key to best deal with your situation. In this sense it is very important that patients continue to cultivate your passions and relationships: this, in fact, can contribute to going beyond the obstacles of the disease and maintaining an active and positive attitude towards the future”.
The importance of reacting
Mood, sleep and digestion can also be affected in those with Parkinson’s disease. But, as the campaign reminds us, the desire to react must dominate. It is no coincidence that among the protagonists there are Carla who dedicates herself to sport climbing and Paolo who has learned to fly everywhere with his simulator, while Valentina has become a mother and Massimiliano spreads music and new ideas on the radio. These are some of the true reaction stories of patients who testify to how Parkinson’s is “A disease that is a hundred diseases” and which inspire the campaign, the advertising subjects and the social commercial which will be broadcast in 2025 with the voices of Claudio Bisio and Lella Coast.
