Parkinson's disease day

Saturday 28 November 2015 is the day dedicated to Parkinson's disease .

The goal is to raise awareness about a disease with little-known implications. On the occasion of Parkinson's Disease Day, specialist doctors will be available at the participating facilities to provide useful information.

You can find and discover the initiative and the meeting point region by region on the dedicated page of the official website.

What is Parkinson's

It is in short a neurodegenerative disease, whereby the nerve cells, located in a particular area of the brain, begin to die progressively.

Those who suffer from this disease gradually lose control of their body, with the consequence of tremors, rigidity and slowness in their movements. The causes of this disease are still unknown: the merit of having it identified and described in 1817 to Dr. James Parkinson.

The probable causes include both environmental and genetic ones. Exposure to pesticides and heavy metals would indeed increase the risk of developing Parkinson's ; even the thesis of a genetic defect is experiencing more evidence.

Today the disease affects about 3 per thousand of the general population; In Italy there are about 300, 000 Parkinson's patients, mostly males (1.5 times more), with an onset age of between 59 and 62, although they are getting younger and younger.

How to recognize Parkinson's

It is not only the classic tremor that bodes the signs of disease. There are first other symptoms that can occur: slow movements, muscle stiffness, postural instability, pain, frequent falls .

The youngest in fact ignore the symptoms: 25% of Parkinson's patients do not know they are because the symptoms are light and can be confused with others; for example, the rigidity of a limb is attributed to causes such as joint inflammation, rheumatism, incorrect posture. In reality they can be the first signs of the disease.

The family doctor must then get used to thinking also of the possibility of Parkinson's, despite the patient's young age, if the symptoms do not find relief or confirmation of the cause from the exams. Here in this page stories of Parkinson's and testimonies to read.

Exercise and diet to fight Parkinson's disease

Exercise in this case is very important to counteract the symptoms related to movement. It must be mild and not tiring, a simple walk a day is essential, as walking increases resistance.

Stretching and rotation, typical of yoga, are ideal. The right diet for the medicines you take is varied and hypoproteinic, but it must not however be restrictive, but balanced and above all broad in the choice of food and cooking methods. It is allowed to consume no more than 1-2 glasses of wine per day, favoring red, while spirits should be reduced or eliminated.

Yes to coffee and tea and lots of water during the day. A good diet and healthy movement help keep depression away, which can easily affect those suffering from this disease .

Also Jury Chechi, lord of the rings, wanted to give his contribution and message for the occasion through a video that promotes the initiative (look at the bottom of the article)

Parkinson's short film

"A small magician" is the short film written and interpreted by Wigand Lange, a German writer who has been dealing with Parkinson's disease since the age of 50 .

Revisiting his true story in the form of a fairy tale, the short film tells of the strange encounter of a pianist with a spiteful little dwarf. The singular vicissitudes of the pianist accompany the spectator on a journey through the emotions that occur as a result of the painful awareness of the disease as a part of itself.

This short film is the brainchild of Alessandro Corsini (director of the short film) and LIMPE (Italian League for the fight against Parkinson's disease, extrapyramidal syndrome and dementia) in order to raise public awareness .