Question

A 65-year-old man presents to a neurologist complaining of a resting tremor. He is accompanied by his wife, who points out that her husband has been moving much more slowly, he has not been sleeping well, and has been depressed and anxious. During the interview, the patient speaks in a low tone without facial expression, and his left hand has a resting tremor involving the fingers and wrist. Physical examination reveals a wide, shuffling gait without arm swing. Passive movement of the arms demonstrates uniform resistance to movement with a ratchet-like quality. His temperature is 37*C (98.6*F) with the heart rate of 90/min and a blood pressure of 140/85 mm Hg.

1. What is the most likely diagnosis?

1. What is the etiology of the disease?

2. What are the predisposing factors to this disease?

Answer 1

ANSWER : 1)

After reading the case study, the person is diagnosed with Parkinson's disease a neurological disorder which occurs in the persons of old age. They show the sign of stiffness, resting tremors and changes in speech and gait (walking method) etc.

2) Parkinson's disease (PD) might be caused due to several factors such as genetic and environmental factors hence, the etiology of this disease is multifactorial but there is no direct evidence of its direct causing factor.

3) Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder of brain in which is caused due to loss of neurons that produce a chemical "dopamine" hence, the predisposing factor of this disease might be decreased amount of dopamine production in the brain.