[Trending News] Parkinson: How is the diagnosis of Milton Nascimento's disease

Milton Nascimento It was the great honoree of the Portela samba school at the Rio de Janeiro Carnival. Bituca inspired the sambas plot and paraded on one of the floats that traveled to Sapucaí at dawn on Wednesday (5).

In an interview about the honor, the son of Milton Nascimento, Augusto Nascimento, revealed that the father was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease two years ago. The singer retired from the stage in 2022, after a national tour.

“This has been bringing limitations along with age, along with the issue of diabetes,” said Augusto about his father's diagnosis. “Only, in parallel, he is happy with life.”

Parkinson is a neurodegenerative disease that affects the motor systemdiagnosed from symptoms and family history.

Some exams help doctors to make sure it is a case of the disease, but there are generally no tests for tracking the picture.

How is the diagnosis?

A neurologist is the doctor responsible for the diagnosis of Parkinson. In general, patients are referred when they have typical symptoms of the disease (read below). The first assessment addresses family and personal history and physical symptoms.

To confirm the diagnosis and especially discard other diseases, some imaging exams can be employed. Magnetic resonance imaging, cerebral ultrasound and pet-scan tomography are the most used. Hemograms can also be part of the requested test list.

In the field of image exams, a new test has been helping to detect Parkinson's cases: the DaTSCAN. Using a contrast, a tomograph is able to produce images that show exactly the state of dopamine -producing neurons in the brain.

A ALFA-SINCLEÍNA It is a protein that also allows you to differentiate Parkinson's disease from others from the analysis of a skin sample.

+Read also: App for those who have Parkinson (and a new marker of the disease)

Parkinson's symptoms

The main symptoms that raise suspicion for the diagnosis of Parkinson are tremors in the membersespecially in the hands and fingers, which occur even as to the person is at rest. These tremors may appear on only one side of the body or both.

The movements also get slower, and the person can present difficulties in walking. The imbalances caused by the disease can result in falls, and muscle stiffness in the legs, arms and trunk is another characteristic of Parkinson.

Changes in speech, writing and posture may arise.

Other symptoms are not directly related to movement, but they are also the result of Parkinson:

• Depression;
• Anxiety;
• Sono problems;
• Fatigue;
• Sexual dysfunctions;
• Loss of smell;
• Hypotension;
• Constipation;
• Bladder problems.

Prognosis

Parkinson has no cure, but today there are already medications that can help reduce symptoms. Calls dopaminergic drugsThese remedies generally seek dopamine, neurotransmitter whose production is reduced from the loss of neurons caused by the disease. Other classes of medicines can also help with symptoms.

Surgery may be indicated in some cases. In addition, the combination of occupational therapy, psychological follow -up and physiotherapy improves patients' quality of life.