what does Parkinson’s do to you and what hat causes it?
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You have substances in your brain that signal things to “GO” allowing you to make purposeful smooth movements. When a certain part of your brain deteriorates (many causes — specific toxins, strokes, genetic predisposition to age related degeneration), you don’t make enough of that “GO” signal which makes it hard for you to be smooth and purposeful with your movement and further.
There is a part of the brain called the basal ganglia that controls motor functions (movements). There are neurons that go to it that signal using dopamine (a chemical/neurotransmitter). In Parkinson’s disease those neurons have degraded/died, the basal ganglia does not get enough dopamine and so it stops functioning properly and you begin to lose motor control (tremors, loss of coordination, etc.). The cause of this is not fully known, but aging, genetics, exposure to certain chemicals etc. likely cause the damage to those neurons.
The treatment is to give them more dopamine. Which can be done with synthetic dopamine and lessens the symptoms but does not fix the underlying problem. There are also newer treatments like brain stimulation etc which try to address the underlying cause but are still not cures.
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