The Similarities Between Parkinson's and Alzheimer's Diseases

September 21st is celebrated as World Alzheimer's Day, across the world. There is a significant need for the increased awareness on this neurodegenerative disorder. There are many scientific researches have found link between Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, however concrete proofs need to be established on this. According to the medical journal Acta Neuropathologica medical a few found biological mechanisms that connect Parkinson's disease to Alzheimer's.

What is Parkinson's Disease (PD)?

Parkinson's disease was first discovered by Dr. James Parkinson. Parkinson's disease is diagnosed based on the three symptoms - slowed body movement, rigid muscles and shakes and tremors. These are the initial recognizable symptoms. A few patients also show other symptoms that include slurred speech, difficulty in getting up from a chair, losing control over body parts and expressionless face.

What is Alzheimer's Disease (AD)?

Alzheimer's can be defined as a type of dementia that affects memory, thinking and other cognitive abilities of the brain. The prolonged systems lead to reduced quality of life. The person may find it difficult to even remember the names of their family members. Alzheimer's is the most common cause of dementia, a state of memory loss.

Similarities Between Parkinson's and Alzheimer's Diseases

As both diseases are considered as the neurodegenerative disorders, they share a few similarities. The cognitive impairment similarities between PD and AD are almost similar. Based on the location of the disease occurrence in the brain, PD is referred as subcortical and AD as cortical. This is the reason why the symptoms of PD are more related to movement and AD symptoms more on the cognitive side.

• Depression

Both the diseases show the symptoms of depression but the influence of it could be seen on the higher side in AD than in PD. The depression in a PD case is more responsive to the antidepressant treatment compared to the AD.

• Psychotic Symptoms

Psychotic symptoms can be seen in both AD and PD. Delusions, hallucination and a state of paranoid are among the common psychotic symptoms in the advanced conditions. The development of these symptoms occurs at a higher rate in AD context, compared to PD. However, the medications used to treat the motor conditions in PD, depending on the dose, can lead to paranoid ideas.

• Anxiety

Anxiety is another common symptom in these two disorders. And, it is common to use antidepressant and antianxiety medications to treat the conditions but it is important to keep the side-effects of medications. The excessive use of medications for anxiety will lead to major health issues that affect the overall health quality. Behavioral treatment for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's is a better treatment approach than the medications.

• Deterred Quality of Sleep

It is another common symptom that could be observed in both these neurodegenerative disorders. Additionally, in Parkinson's disease, the issue termed as REM (rapid eye movement) causes more disturbance during the sleep. In AD too, the depression associated with anxiety will become the major obstacles for a quality sleep.

• Changed Personality

Seniors experience various cognitive and physical impairments in these conditions and their overall personality will get affected. Undergoing the treatment and all the medications will have a severe effect on their typical characteristics. The movement disorders in PD will reduce their outgoing and social life; AD will have the same impact by reducing the cognitive ability of a person.

It is important to know that medications that are used in one condition may show a negative impact on another condition. For instance, most of the medications prescribed to treat AD will show a negative impact on PD, due to its typical movement disorders. Identifying the cognitive and behavioral similarities and distinguishing the conditions in a better way. This helps in the diagnosis process as well as in better treatment approach.

6 Techniques to Sleep Better After a Stroke

Sleep is an integral part of human life and is essential for a healthy brain. Brain, the most significant organ that uses almost 20% of the total oxygen consumption, needs a sufficient amount of rest and medical support in order to recover especially after a major health condition like a stroke.

Disrupted sleep is one of the common post-stroke effects faced by many stroke survivors. Due to lack of sleep, the brain feels tired after a stroke. Doctors recommend at least 9 to 10 hours of sleep for stroke patients as sleep is the key to a speedy recovery. Making the recovery difficult, sleep disruptions affect many individuals after a stroke.

Lack of sleep not only causes depression and stress but also increases the intensity of the other symptoms such as memory loss, fatigue and nausea. Sleep helps the brain to clean after itself while flushing out the toxins. Sleeplessness may build-up the toxic substances in the brain, further damaging it on top of the stroke.

If you are a stroke survivor who is experiencing excessive sleep, feel blessed and continue to sleep for a sufficient amount of time. If you are a person facing difficulty in getting adequate sleep, seek doctor help. In addition, the following tips and simple lifestyle changes could help you in getting better sleep.

• Relax the Stressed Mind - A stressful mind could never be relaxed and it is next to impossible to make it sleep. Practice various stress relieving activities such as simple physical activities like jogging and walking.
• Meditation and Yoga - Make meditation and yoga as part of your regular life. Especially, yoga shows an enormous effect on sleep disorders as it works as the best medicine to relax the body and mind. Practice meditation and pranayama as they are proven to be best solutions for sleeplessness.
• Air Flow Improvement Using Medications - The breathing patterns may get affected due to the side-effects of a stroke. Check for the blocks and signs of sleep apnea and other breathing disorders to help the individual to have a better sleep. Sleep gets disrupted if the person is facing any breathing issues.
• Develop and Stick to a Daily Sleeping Routine - It is the common sleep tip that could work wonders. Train your body and brain by going to bed at a particular time every day. After a certain point of time, the brain starts feeling sleepy as soon as the clocks tick that time.
• Avoid Sleeping During Day - If you are finding it difficult to sleep at night, never take the naps during the daytime, irrespective of their small tenure. If you just include moderate physical activity (based on the body support), your body drives you to the bed as the time arrives.
• Use the Bright Light Therapy - Stroke may leave your biological cycles disrupted and it may require some effort to catch the rhythm again. Use the Bright Light Therapy technique that helps people to readjust their inner clocks. This is a simple practice that is performed in the bright light of the morning for 30 minutes. This activity also helps in getting vitamin D which helps in better sleep. 

In addition, ensure your bedroom is dimly lit, the pillow and mattress are comfortable. Few people respond better to the aroma and music therapy. Try them to see if they are working for you. Keep the room temperature at the suitable levels. 

Sleep plays a significant role in the recovery of the people who have survived a stroke. Use these techniques along with medical help for a quality sleep during the recovery stages of a stroke.

Egg and Its Relation with Stroke

Egg, probably the most affordable nutritiously rich food in the world, does a bit more than just providing the body with the essential proteins and vitamins. The regular consumption of egg could be the reducing factor of so many health conditions. This is the reason why the saying ‘An egg a day keeps the doctor away’ is so popular.

Many medical researches have been conducted on the health benefits of the egg. While it remained to be the major source of protein, it has also the capability to reduce the risk of getting a stroke by 12 percent on a daily consumption. Few researchers have claimed that egg reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases but further studies need to be conducted to reveal the truth.

As per the studies conducted by two medical universities in America and China respectively, if you take an egg in your breakfast you will reduce the chances of getting a stroke and cardiovascular diseases, significantly. Read more to learn if this is true.

According to the study published in the American College of Nutrition Journal, consuming an egg every day has no significant impact on reducing the cardiovascular diseases but it does help you to reduce your risk of a stroke. The results have proven that having 2 eggs per week can help the body in tackling the fatal, ischaemic and hemorrhagic types of strokes.

On the hind-side, the scientists also claimed that the people who have consumed the eggs could have consumed the other dietary supplements that favor the body in reducing the risk of the stroke.

What Makes Egg a Complete Nutrition -

It’s no secret that eggs are good for health. One medium-sized egg contains 76 calories, 7.5g protein, 5.1g fat and 1.4g sat fat. In addition, eggs are rich sources of Vitamin A, B2, B5, B6, B12, E, D, E and K, folate and selenium, zinc, Calcium and healthy fats.

They also contain cholesterol but it is high-density lipoprotein that is known as the good cholesterol. People who have the high levels of this cholesterol are less likely to get the coronary artery and cardiovascular diseases. Even though eggs are high in cholesterol but eating this cholesterol does not bump up the blood pressure.

Most importantly, the choline which is a nutrient that group up with the Vitamin B, is essential in building the cell membrane. Also, this property is essential in producing the signaling molecules in the brain, a process that will get reduced due to the age factor.

Eggs are often referred as the complete source of protein as they contain all the 9 amino acids at a sufficient level. As the egg is a source of many healthy nutrients a significant amount of research needs to be conducted to establish the exact relationship between eggs and stroke. The Egg is dietary mainstay that supply all the essential nutrients to the body. With science on its side, egg prevents the chances of getting a stroke but also numerous health disorders and ensure the body functions at its optimum.

Tips to regain your Balance after Stroke

Stroke is one of the leading causes of disability that occurs because of permanent damage to brain and may lead to difficulty in movement, balancing, pain, memory loss, loss of function (of affected part), fatigue , emotional and psychological problems. Symptoms can range from mild to severe and can be temporary or permanent in nature. Many of the Stroke survivors face problems in balancing which may affect their ability to walk and also increases the risk of falling. Besides balancing some people may also have feeling of dizziness or spinning sensation (due to stroke) which can further increase the risk of falling to five times.

Balancing while walking requires coordination between ears, eyes and brain. Any damage caused by stroke in part of brain that control coordination of movement may hamper balancing. Similarly, impaired vision, hearing or inability to process information in relation to affected side of the body may also lead to imbalance. The other evident reason for balance problems in stroke survivors is that one side of the body (unaffected side) becomes stronger than the other.

Physical activity in form of exercise, yoga or any pleasurable activity can bring tremendous change in their lives. Physical activity will not only help in recovering from present disability but also prevent another episode of stroke. Physical therapy makes the patient more independent, boosts confidence, improves overall health and helps reduce depression and anxiety (related to the disease). Physical activity in any form helps improve heart function, lowers BP and the resting heart rate. It improves the overall metabolism. It improves the lipid profile by reducing total cholesterol. It also reduces the risk and severity of diabetes and improves the brain health by increasing strength, tolerance and endurance of the body.

Survivors are advised to start with stroke physical therapy for regaining balance as early as possible (after the stabilisation of the vitals).It may take a while for the body to start walking after a stroke. Initially easy and less strenuous exercises are suggested which can be gradually increased once body’s endurance and strength improves. Aim is to take small steps that will lead to long lasting healthy changes in body. During the recovery period, neither patient nor the caregiver should get discouraged because of the physical disability. Instead a lot of sincere and focused efforts are required on a daily basis (from patient) which will help lessen the symptoms and will lead to increased independence.

Physical activity has countless benefits for stroke survivors. Most common physical activities for stroke patients with severe- moderate disability are stretching the neck, moving/rotating the arm, lifting the knee, flexing and extending the elbows and arms, and ankle rotation on the unaffected side of the body. With the improvement in balancing, gradually the frequency and duration can be increased like, after learning to balance upright while sitting in a chair, next is to learn the transfers safely between bed and chair followed by beginning to learn to walk.

Patients with mild disability have numerous options for exercises such as swimming, walking, stair stepper and use of recumbent stationary bike as well. There are some fortunate stroke survivors who can move all the four limbs without any weakness. But they should also exercise after stroke on a regular basis. They can start with any form of physical activity of their interest e.g. gardening, playing sport, walking or swimming. Nowadays, many visual reality devices are also available which makes the physical activity more enjoyable by giving immediate feedbacks. This encourages the patient for active participation also.

Healthy food habits also proved to be highly effective during the recovery phase. Wisely chosen food items can also help reduce the stroke risk factors. Small frequent meals with large portions of fruits, vegetables and whole grains are advisable. Saturated and Trans fats should be completely avoided. Instead, lean meat and low fat dairy products should be consumed. Smoking and alcohol consumption should be completely stopped.