Patient/caregiver was educated on complications of Parkinson’s Disease as follows:
- Deficiency of and imbalance between chemicals, dopamine and acetylcholine, in Parkinson’s patients mainly result in symptoms of uncontrolled and involuntary jerking body movements, tremors, rigidity, difficulty initiating movements, and loss of automatic body movements. The tremor and jerky hand movements compromise the fine hand movements needed for writing, thus limiting the patient on expression.
- Tremors, difficulty with movement, and rigidity contribute to increased fatigue and exhaustion in individuals with Parkinson’s history.
- Impaired neurotransmitter/chemical balance in Parkinson’s patients could frequently result in urinary symptoms, such as, difficulty emptying bladder, urinary retention and back-up, increased frequency, urgency, increased frequency of UTIs, and urinary incontinence.
- Impaired neurotransmitter/chemical balance in Parkinson’s patients could also slow down the bowels, resulting in constipation. Reduced physical activity, increased sedentary life-style, and poor fluid intake in Parkinson’s patients could contribute further and worsen the constipation.
- Unstable mood, anxiety, depression, and fatigue in individuals with history of Parkinson’s result in erectile dysfunction and compromised sexual performance in males. In females, they could result in decreased sexual interest and reduced participation.
