April 11 – World Parkinson’s Day

Tomorrow the World Health Organization is celebrating World Parkinson’s Day.

According to the Global Parkinson Foundation, this disease is, firstly, dangerous – every 2.5 minutes someone dies from it in the world, and secondly, “actively developing” – in 20 years the number of patients can increase from 6 to 12 – 15 million people. Thirdly, it has many symptoms, in particular a violation of human motor function, mental disorders, pain and sensitivity disorders. Fourth, late-diagnosed—only 5% of people are diagnosed with the disease at age 40 or younger.

A press conference dedicated to the fight against Parkinson’s disease was held in Moscow. As the president of the National Society for the Study of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders, Sergey Illarioshkin, noted, the avalanche-like growth rate of patients falls under the definition of a “global pandemic”.

“The main symptoms that make it possible to make a diagnosis are associated with motor disorders, in particular, slowness of movement, stiffness of facial expressions, impaired fine motor skills, trembling of the limbs,” says Sergey Illarioshkin. – 10-20 years before the development of motor symptoms, the disease manifests itself as sleep disorders, problems of the gastrointestinal tract, decreased sense of smell, increased anxiety. As the disease progresses, these symptoms increase and negatively affect the quality of life.

Parkinson’s disease is an age-related disease. If in people aged 55 to 64 years the percentage of cases is up to 1% of “persons of the corresponding category”, then at the age of 65 to 74 years it already grows to 2%, and over 75 years old – up to 3 – 4%. Today in Russia more than two hundred thousand people have a confirmed diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, and annually their number is growing by about 30 thousand people.

“Pill therapy has been working great for several years,” says Sergey Illarioshkin. “However, the disease has the ability to actively and constantly progress. By the time motor symptoms appear, approximately 60-80% of the dopamine-producing brain cells have been lost. Complications gradually appear and grow: the drugs begin to be absorbed worse in the intestines and act less evenly. In the later stages of the disease, a person begins to move poorly, need help with daily activities. At this stage, in order to maintain its vital activity, it is necessary to change the approach to treatment, using surgical technologies or invasive methods of drug delivery to the site of their absorption in the body.

“We started this kind of therapy last year. And we are already seeing excellent results: a person who took 8-10 tablets of levodopa could not get up or move. And after the start of using the new method of treatment, he got up, walked, moves, carries out daily activities without outside help, – said Yulia Karakulova, Doctor of Medical Sciences. – We are very glad that innovative methods of treatment are now becoming more and more available to our patients.

According to Elena Khvostikova, director of the Genome Patient Care Center, new methods of treating Parkinson’s disease make it possible to give patients a “second chance” for life.

“Since 2013, I have been watching those who, having experienced such symptoms, return not only to normal life, but even to work,” says Elena Khvostikova. – Since last year, we have been trying to help such patients in Moscow and Tatarstan. Authorities are not always ready to procure a health-saving drug with no alternatives for these patients, even if the cost of delay is life. But we continue to fight for each patient.

Mona Platonov.

Photo from mos.ru