Premium Essay

Disorder Paper

In:

Submitted By mzchambers
Words 3382
Pages 14
Disorder Paper
LaTridia M. Chambers
Psych/575
November 15, 2012
Dr. Fred Benner

Disorder Paper
One of the mostly commonly know neurological disorders within society today is Parkinson’s disease. It is classified as a neurodegenerative disorder (Healthwise, 2010). As of today there isn’t a known cure for Parkinson’s disease. Most patients are diagnosed after age of 60, but symptoms can begin much sooner. The most well-known case of this happening is the case of celebrity Michael J. Fox that was diagnosed at the age of 30 with Parkinson’s disease (MedicineNet, 2004). In order to understand treatment methods, it is essential to understand the history, causes, symptoms and pathology of Parkinson’s disease.
The disease received its name from James Parkinson, an English doctor (Jankovic, 2008). Parkinson wrote a paper in 1817 entitled “An Essay on the Shaking Palsy.” In the essay, Parkinson reviewed the cases of 6 of his patients who exhibited symptoms of what is now known as Parkinson’s disease. The disease is complicated to explain. It is caused by a defect in nerve cells in the brain. In normal brains, nerve cells make dopamine. Dopamine in turn is the chemical that tells parts of the brain to send signals that control movement. The disease takes place because there is a deficiency of dopamine because of a defect with the nerve cells that create the chemical (Freed, 2001). Dopamine in a healthy brain travels between two areas of the brain: The Substantia Nigra and the Corpus Striatum (Fearnley & Lees, 1991). When this process works correctly, it allows the body to make smooth and controlled motor movements. When the process does not work correctly, it leads to symptoms we commonly associate with Parkinson’s disease such as tremors, shaking, balance problems, and slow or uncontrolled movements (MedicineNet, 2004).
Most cases of Parkinson’s

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Disorders Paper

...Disorders Autism Autism it is a serious disorder that begins in infancy and is characterized by abnormal social development, impaired language and communication, and repetitive behavior. The diagnosis of autism is based on “observed behavior and educational and psychological testing (Autism Speaks).” When trying to determine whether a child is autistic or not there are a number of signs that parents and observers can watch for. Children that have poor eye contact, little interest in other people, and do not respond to their name are considered to be autistic. Other signs involve the child having trouble with their speech. This could mean no babbling or no speech at all by 16 months. If a child does not gesture or point at things as in showing you something their interested in or possibly want by a certain age then they may also be considered autistic. Autism begins in early brain development and obvious sign may occur between 2 and 3 years of age. Genetics seems to be the most responsible for autism. “Many genes on several chromosomes have been implicated; in some cases genes related to neural communication appear to have been copied to many times or left out during meiosis (Carol K. Singleman, Elizabeth A. Rider).” Meiosis is the process of a reproductive cell in the mother’s ovaries or in the father’s testes that contains 46 chromosomes splitting into two 46 chromosome cells. Once this division process is complete then those two chromosomes split again to form a total...

Words: 2029 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Psychological Disorder Paper

...Psychological Disorder Paper PSY/450-Diversity and Cultural Factors in Psychology Kimberly L. Herrington Due: Tuesday January 15, 2013 People decisions, attitudes, and beliefs are acquired from their cultural roots. Psychology has established social perception results from the individual’s cultural milieu. Social perception is a process that aids us to understanding others as well as ourselves. This paper will discuss anxiety disorder; examine the connection between human development and how this connection affects anxiety disorders. There are several types of anxiety disorders, some of the most common are; Specific Phobia, Panic Disorder, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. A person who has anxiety disorder may experience feelings of excessive fear, worrying or discomfort in situations where majority of others do not share those emotions. Left untreated, anxiety disorders may become severely damaging and may affect his or her relationships, work performance, and or study ability. As more research and studies are performed it has been concluded from severe cases that even simple tasks such as cleaning, shopping or leaving the house is a major challenge. In addition to inability to perform daily activities, anxiety may also cause decrease in self-esteem, drug abuse, and separation from loved ones ( Shiraev & Levy 2010) In the United States of America, the most common mental ailments are anxiety disorders. Statistics...

Words: 2387 - Pages: 10

Free Essay

Anxiety Disorder Paper

...Disorder Paper - Anxiety Jonathan Dimitroff University of Phoenix Psych 575 March 23, 2015 Leah Mancuso PhD Disorder Paper - Anxiety The purpose of this paper is to discuss a neurological, psychological, or neurodevelopmental disorder. It is to compare and contrast three therapeutic interventions used to treat the chosen disorder; comparing measures of effectiveness, such as validity, efficacy, symptom and behavior management, and recidivism. One therapy should be cognitive in nature, one pharmacological in nature, and the third should be an alternative therapeutic treatment. This paper will identify common symptoms associated with the disorder, and rates of symptom reduction or management as reported with the three treatments. It will discuss what approach this author would use to treat this disorder based on the research used to develop this paper; and why. It will also analyze the neurophysiological underpinnings of disorders and diseases, as well as examine contemporary attitudes towards the three treatments selected. For the purposes of this paper, anxiety will be the chosen disorder. It is a psychological disorder with a variety of symptoms and specific types of anxiety. To list a few of the different types of anxiety, there is Panic disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Social Anxiety disorder, then there are the phobias which fall under the anxiety label, as well as Generalized...

Words: 2962 - Pages: 12

Free Essay

Psychological Disorder Paper

...Psychological Disorder Paper Erica Vazquez PSY 450 University of Phoenix Abstract This paper will examine the psychological disorder Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and the relationship it has between human development and socialization as well as how human development and socialization affect people with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Psychological Disorder Paper The U.S. National Library of Medicine describes Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) as, “ an anxiety disorder in which people have unwanted and repeated thoughts, feelings, ideas, sensations (obsessions), or behaviors that make them feel driven to do something (compulsions).” Essentially, the obsessions are the spontaneous and tedious contemplations, while the compulsions are the actions that result from the disorder. Even though OCD is exhibited as recurrent and persistent thoughts and impulses, would it be just to consider every type of compulsive behavior or obsessive thought as OCD? (Shiraev &Levy, 2010) According to Shiraev & Levy, “ Specific repetitive behavior – praying, for example –– should be judged in accordance with the norms of the individual’s culture and should clearly interfere with social role functioning to be diagnosed as OCD (DSM-IV, P. 420) “ (2010, p. 231). With this in mind a more concrete explanation of the relationship between OCD and human development and socialization. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) OCD affects...

Words: 998 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Delusional Disorders Paper

...Often confused with schizophrenia, delusion disorders is a condition that involves a person having delusions for at least a month or more. There are two different types of delusions a person can have; Bizarre and non-bizarre. Non-bizarre delusions are delusions of things that are possible to happen. For example, their husband/wife cheating on them. Non-bizarre delusions are most common with delusional disorders. Bizarre delusions are delusions of things that are not possible or that are very unlikely to happen (Delusional Disorder Symptoms, 2013).For example, the person would think they were abducted by aliens. Bizarre delusions are more often associated with schizophrenia than delusional disorders. Usually you cannot identify people with delusional disorders on the street or in social situations because they give no outward signals. There are seven different subtypes of delusion disorders which are given based in delusion theme. The seven types are Erotomanic, Persecutory, Jealous, grandiose, Somatic, mixed, and unspecified (Delusional Disorder Symptoms, 2013). The First type of Delusional Disorder is Erotomania which is also known as De Clerambault syndrome. It is named De Clerambault syndrome after Gaetan Gatian de Clérambault, the doctor who studied and described the symptoms...

Words: 2137 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Anxiety Disorder Research Paper

...Darlene Gil Winters 11:15-12:30 12/02/14 Anxiety Disorder For a huge amount of people, anxiety is a normal response to occasional stress. It’s a normal emotion that everyone experiences at certain points in their lives. Many people feel anxious or nervous when faced with any type of problems. Could be at work, school, before taking an exam, etc. Anxiety disorders however, are different. They can cause such distress that interferes with a person’s ability to live a normal life. Anxiety disorders are the most common psychological disorders in the United States. About 27.6 million people in the U.S. are suffering from different types of anxiety disorder. There are four different types of anxiety disorders: phobia, generalized anxiety disorder,...

Words: 1361 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Neurodevelopmental and Neurocognitive Disorders Paper

...Neurodevelopmental and Neurocognitive Disorders Paper Photographic memories stick in people’s minds. Emotions and reactions that cannot be erased and are burned into the memory in one’s mind can have detrimental effects as well as saving someone’s sanity. Neurodevelopmental disorders are biological brain disorders that are responsible for early onset brain dysfunctions. The disorders can be genetic or acquired from trauma, heredity, the environment, or illness. This paper will discuss the behavioral criteria for two different disorders, along with the incidence rates, causes, and two treatment options for each disorder. The two different disorders that will be talked about in this paper will be autism and eating disorders. Autism What is autism? Autism is not considered by many a “serious” disorder; this disorder starts in infancy, and may be characterized by different factors: impaired language and communication, repetitive disorder and abnormal social development. The diagnosis of autism is based on “observed behavior” and educational and psychological testing. When trying to determine whether a child is autistic or not there are a number of signs that parents and observers can watch for. Children that have poor eye contact, little interest in other people, and do not respond to their name are considered to be autistic. Other signs involve the child having trouble with their speech. Autism begins in early brain development and obvious sign may occur between 2 and 3 years...

Words: 1436 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Concept Paper - Eating Disorders

...Concept Paper Imagine waking up every morning, coping with the pain of rising up, you don’t remember the last time you had a real full meal. Looking yourself in the mirror those voices in your head criticize you and say that you do not look good enough for the world, maybe you should lose a few more pounds. Imagine having to ignore your stomach grumbling, because even if you try to eat something you can’t, your body refuses it. Imagine every time you stand up your vision gets blurry and you have to grab hold of something while your head is pounding. Just imagine not being able to go to the beach with your friends because even in 80 degree weather you get goose bumps. This is the true life for many women and some men around the world with eating disorders; it takes over your whole life. Today the idea of being beautiful has contributed too many young women forming preposterous body image expectations leading to eating disorders. Eating disorders do not only have one cause. Eating disorders are complex conditions that arise from combination of long-standing behavioral, biological, emotional, psychological, interpersonal and social factors. Scientists and researchers are still learning about underlining causes of these emotionally and physically damaging conditions. According to NEDA (National Eating Disorder Association) some of the general issues that contribute to the development of eating disorders have been generalized. Some may argue that the media is not to be...

Words: 1017 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Generalized Anxiety Disorder Paper

...Generalized Anxiety Disorder is an impairing mental disorder that can take control of a persons life. Not only are there various mental symptoms, such as difficulty in controlling worry, but there are also many physical symptoms, such as irritability, muscle tension, etc (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). For this paper, I interviewed a family friend, who shall remain nameless, but for the point of this paper will be called Nicole. She was clinically diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and has been dealing with this mental illness for all of her life. Nicole has learned to cope with her stress, and is able to live a normal life currently, even though she still experiences some symptoms. Nicole’s experience through GAD...

Words: 1509 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Mental Disorders Research Paper

...Mental disorders control the lives of millions of humans across the world. Mental disorders impact the everyday functions of these people. According to Shannon L. Alder, “ The True Definition of mental illness is when the majority of your time is spent in the past or the future, but rarely living in the realism of now”. Most mental disorders affect the functions, to the point where it can be hard to do simple task. Some even face the everyday difficulty of getting out of bed. Knowing the whole day is before them, creates struggle to want to start the day. Many suffer from mental disorders that keep them from living in the present, but rather they live in the past reliving events, or in the future dreaming of events to come. Many disorders come...

Words: 329 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Sleeping Disorders Research Paper

...Sleep Disorders and Affects They Have Sleep has a major role in a person’s life, on average a person will spend a third of their life sleeping. Sleep is not only the cure to sleepiness, it is also a necessity for keeping a humans immune system functioning properly. Sleep deprivation can greatly increase the potential of a weak immune system. Sleep disorders such as sleep apnea and insomnia both affect the ability of a person to be able to sleep throughout the night causing sleep deprivation. Sleep in viewed as simply resting so that you do not feel tiered anymore. This however is not all sleep is, sleep consist of slow-wave sleep and REM sleep. Slow-wave sleep is the final sleep stages and is when a person in a very deep sleep. Rem sleep...

Words: 1257 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Eating Disorders Research Paper

...In America today, 8 million people are affected by the issue of eating disorders. While eating disorder do lead to many health issues, I will focus on obesity and health issues caused by it. Some examples of people fighting eating disorders is, “The Eating Disorders Coalition”(Eating Disorders and Obesity). First, this affects all groups of people, even ones of different socioeconomic groups. “Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. Someone dies as a direct result of an eating disorder every 62 minutes” (The Eating Disorders Coalition). To me , this is an outstanding number that needs to be substantially lowered. Did you know that eating disorders are a mental illness? There is not much being done by the government...

Words: 393 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Body Fat and Eating Disorders Paper

...Body Fat and Eating Disorders Paper 1 Week 8 Assignment: Body Fat and Eating Disorders Paper Savanna Engstrom SCI/241 August 26, 2012 Dr. Mike Collins Body Fat and Eating Disorders Paper 2 Body composition is the comparison between muscle and fat in a person’s body. A person’s weight could be high because of either large muscles or having too much extra fat. When a person is overweight because of excess fat, they are at risk of coming down with a variety of very dangerous and life threatening diseases. Excess fat can also cause a person to have a weaker immune system which leads to infections, slower wound healing, and complications during surgery. Extra fat poses a danger to women especially while they are pregnant, and their baby could be threatened as well. There are also psychological aspects of being overweight which can harm a person over time such as becoming depressed, dependent on others, unable to take care of themselves, and possibly developing eating disorders. There are so many factors these days that contribute to the world’s obesity epidemic. The two leading factors, in my opinion, are not eating healthy and not getting the appropriate amount of physical activity. These two factors work together because they go hand in hand: unhealthy food causes people to feel lazy and lack energy, so they sit around and play video games and watch TV rather than go out to play. There is also the fact that many people were never taught how to shop for...

Words: 587 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Body Fat and Eating Disorder Paper

...Body Fat and Eating Disorder Paper Jolie Handel SCI/241 September 9, 2012 Kelsey Jakubauskas Body composition is the proportion of fat and fat-free mass in the body. Those that have a higher proportion of fat-free mass to a lower proportion of body fat have a healthy body composition. Someone with a body composition that includes excessive body fat is more likely to suffer from weight-related health problem including things like; high blood pressure, heart disease, high blood cholesterol, diabetes, gallbladder disease, arthritis, sleep disorders, respiratory problems, menstrual irregularities, and cancers of the breasts, uterus, prostate and colon. Obese puts a person at a higher risk for surgical complications and has also been found that their wounds take longer to heal as well. Many factors influence the obesity epidemic of today’s society. We live in a culture where everything is very fast paced and instant gratification is expected. Stress plays a large role in our every day lives. People are working one if not two jobs while trying to raise a family. While these jobs may require less physical labor, they may require more mental labor than jobs in the past. As a result of working long hours, possible commute, and hectic schedules, people have little or no time for active recreation time. People find themselves spending more time watching television...

Words: 880 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Brief Therapeutic Disorder Research Paper

...ABSTRACT This paper is brief description of Brief Psychotic Disorder it can last up to 1 to 2 months, Brief Psychotic Disorder can happen from your early 20’s to late 40’s and can be genetic, it caused by stress and traumatic events like losing a loved one or being in a bad accident. Symptoms of Brief Psychotic Disorder are hallucinations like seeing and hearing things that are not there. Brief Psychotic Disorder isn’t treatable and it could last up to 1 month and it could reappear later on in your life if you've had it before, if it exceeds that period of time it could be the beginning of Schizophrenia Disorder which is a more chronic disorder. Brief Psychotic Disorder is a mental disorder that usually occurs in a person's late 20’s...

Words: 610 - Pages: 3