Pay attention to World Parkinson's Day

April 11th this year is the 30th World Parkinson's Day, with the theme of "Technology Empowerment, Intelligent Care Throughout the Process". The core is to rely on cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and remote medical care to achieve intelligent management of the entire process of Parkinson's disease from early screening, precise diagnosis, personalized treatment to long-term follow-up, so that patients can enjoy technology assisted full process care at every step of disease diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation, and improve the treatment effect and quality of life of patients.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease in middle-aged and elderly people, often occurring between the ages of 50-65. It is mainly characterized by slow movement, involuntary tremors of the hands, head, or mouth when at rest, muscle rigidity, loss of flexibility and stiffness of the body, and postural balance disorders. Symptoms often first appear in one limb and gradually spread to the opposite side or the whole body. In the late stage of the disease, patients are bedridden and unable to take care of themselves. The core symptom of Parkinson's disease is bradykinesia, such as slowed movements of the upper limbs during walking, waking up, turning over, etc; Inability to perform fine actions such as brushing teeth; Abnormal gait, such as taking small steps while walking, lacking the arm swinging back and forth during normal walking, and unstable gait when turning. In addition, Parkinson's disease also has many non motor symptoms, including decreased sense of smell, low mood, sleep disorders, etc., among which the most common are anxiety and depression. About 70% of Parkinson's patients experience anxiety symptoms, feeling nervous and restless; About 50% have symptoms of depression, manifested as decreased interest, decreased appetite, and increased fatigue.

PD is the third "killer" among middle-aged and elderly people after tumors and cardiovascular diseases, seriously affecting their work ability and quality of life. So far, the etiology of primary Parkinson's disease is still not fully understood, and the main risk factors are aging, genetic factors (about 15% of patients have a family history), and oxidative stress such as mental stress and arteriosclerosis. There is currently no cure for Parkinson's disease, which is a chronic progressive disease. If left untreated, the patient's survival period will be significantly shortened.