Patient/caregiver was educated on complications of Parkinson’s Disease as follows:
- The stiffness and rigidity of muscles involving the face and jaw in Parkinson’s patients could progressively lead to difficulties with activities like speech. Difficulty with speech leads to problems with patient expression, thus affecting the quality of life.
- Ability to chew is the major stimulus for saliva production. Stiffness and rigidity of muscles involving the face and jaw in Parkinson’s patients could progressively lead to difficulties with chewing and safe swallowing. Difficulty with chewing in Parkinson’s patients can lead to reduced saliva production and consequently result in dry mouth, which can make the swallowing even more difficult. Impaired safe swallowing function can lead to severe complications such as, aspiration pneumonia and death.
- Difficulty with chewing and swallowing could lead to the individual losing interest in food and nutrition intake. This can lead to poor nutrition and fluid intake in Parkinson’s patients and consequently result in severe malnutrition, dehydration, and other consequences of nutritional deficiencies.
- Deficiency in the brain levels of acetylcholine in Parkinson’s patients could contribute to slowing of thought process, growing confusion, and compromised memory. Over a period of time, poorly controlled disease process could contribute to development of progressively worsening dementia.
