Parkinson's disease is a progressive nervous system disorder characterized by tremors, muscle rigidity, and postural instability due to reduced dopamine production. It typically occurs in older adults over 50 and increases in prevalence with age. The symptoms were first described by James Parkinson in 1817 and the disease is named after him. An estimated 7-10 million people worldwide have Parkinson's, including 4% diagnosed before age 50. Risk factors include pesticides, aging, genetics, and free radicals. The disease progresses through five stages from mild unilateral involvement to severe disability requiring confinement to a bed or wheelchair. Mitochondrial dysfunction and alpha-synuclein aggregation contribute to neuronal death in Parkinson's. Levodopa medication is commonly used to

2. Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a chronic
progressive disease of the nervous system, a
neurodegenerative disease characterized by
the cardinal features of rigidity because of
decreased dopamine production, bradykinesia
, tremor and postural instability ,disorder
that normally occurs after the age of 50, and
increases in incidence with age

3. Studied and discovered by James
Parkinson (1817) which he called the
shaking palsy and by the Latin term
paralysis agitans has probably existed
for thousands of years.
He observed certain symptoms which
were dominant i.e. tremors, muscle
rigidity & postural instability.
Neurologist (1861) named it
Parkinson’s disease.

4.  An estimated seven to 10 million people
worldwide are living with Parkinson's
disease. Incidence of Parkinson's increases
with age, but an estimated four percent of
people with PD are diagnosed before the
age of 50. Men are one and a half times
more likely to have Parkinson's than women.

5.  Pesticides, herbicides, industrial chemicals
- contain substances that inhibit complex I
in the mitochondria

6. Free Radicals – there is a increase in
post-mortem brain sections
Aging – age related decline in
dopamine production
Genetic – possible, no single gene
identified

11. Stage 1:
Unilateral
involvement only
with minimal or no
functional
impairment
Stage 2:
Bilateral or midline
involvement,
without balance
impairment
Stage 3:
Impairment of
righting reflex
Stage 4:
Fully developed
and severely
disabling
Stage 5:
Confinement to
bed or wheel
chair.

12.  Mitochondria is highly enriched with neuronal
axons
 ROS production
 N-terminal membrane-binding domain of α-syn
specifically binds to the mitochondria causes
mitochondrial fragmentation
 -synuclein aggregation
 8-OHdG (8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine)
 8-OHG (8-hydroxy-guanosine)
 over-expression of c-Abl and p73 leads neurons to
apoptosis
 GSH decrease

15. ROS
Nrf1 & 2
Antioxidants
Reduce super
oxides & H2O2
Lipid
oxidation

18. Some examples of diseases induced by mtDNA mutations are
CPEO (Chronic Progressive External Ophthalmoplegia)
KSS (Kearns-Sayre Syndrome)
LHON (Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy)
MELAS (Mitochondrial Encephalomyopathy Lactic Acidosis and
Stroke-Like Episodes)
NARP (Neurogenic Muscle Weakness, Ataxia and Retinitis
Pigmentosa)

20. Levodopa:
 is a medicine that the brain converts
to dopamine.
is a medicine used to control symptoms
of Parkinson's disease and used at all stages of the
disease.
Levodopa does not slow the disease process, but
it improves muscle movement and delays severe
disability.
long-term levodopa therapy within 5 to 10 years
can cause complication to occur such as Dyskinesia.