The most typical onset of Parkinson's disease, which usually occurs over the age of 60, is tremor in the right or left hand... Over time, Parkinson's leads to weighted and slowed movement and causes various conditions such as falling, slow speech, decreased blinking, and instability in sitting and standing. Drawing attention to the importance of proper nutrition and exercise in Parkinson's disease, Neurology Specialist Prof. Dr. Sultan Tarlacı stated that patients should consume plenty of vegetables & fiber foods and exercise with good coordination. Emphasizing the importance of swimming exercise, Prof. Dr. Tarlacı underlined that Parkinson's patients should definitely eat 1 bowl of yogurt every day and take vitamin D.
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Neurology Specialist Prof. Dr. Sultan Tarlacı from Üsküdar University NPISTANBUL Hospital gave important information about nutrition and exercise methods that should be applied in Parkinson's disease.
Those who use pesticides are at risk
"Parkinson's disease is an age-related slowing of movements that usually occurs over the age of 60 or 65 and is seen in 1-2 percent of the population," said Prof. Dr. Sultan Tarlacı,
"Parkinson's occurs about 1.5 to 2 times more often in men. According to some studies, people who live in rural areas and use pesticides are actually at risk. Parkinson's occurs slightly more frequently in these people."
The most typical onset Hand tremor
Stating that the most typical onset of Parkinson's is the specific tremor of Parkinson's that starts in the right or left hand, Prof. Dr. Sultan Tarlacı,
"This is the most common initial symptom we see. This tremor, usually dominated by the thumb, often called 'coin-counting tremor', is almost typical for the disease. But this alone, of course, is not diagnostic. It is accompanied by a slowing down of all body movements. What is this? When moving, the person complains that their muscles resist them and there is often a slow movement. Sometimes this starts in one half of the body, and after a year or two it moves to the other half. This slowing down is reflected in the voice; the person speaks slowly, slowly. It is reflected in the way he blinks; he blinks more slowly. It is reflected in the way they sit and stand up; they sit and stand up very slowly and slowly. Or when sitting down, he/she has to sit on the seat not by bending his/her knees in a balanced way, but by sitting on the seat as a whole."
The frequency of falls increases in Parkinson's disease
Prof. Dr. Tarlacı: "Over time, of course, as the weight and slowing down of the movement increases, as straightening, reflexes and self-protection decrease, the slightest turns, foot stumbles, the patient falls completely face down and falls", and continued his words as follows:
"Sometimes the patient suddenly starts running while walking normally and this is an irresistible running and he cannot stop it. By running fast, he will either fall or he will have to stop by holding on to something. This is also very rare, but it is an interesting initial symptom and is often overlooked. Of course, the slowing down of all movements also reduces the number of swallows. After a while, saliva may flow onto the pillow at night and wet it. Bowel movements slow down and this is accompanied by constipation. In some cases, the sense of smell may be impaired beforehand. Constipation and loss of the sense of smell are actually one of the early symptoms before the disease occurs. As movements slow down, handwriting in Parkinson's disease typically turns into what we call 'ant writing' over time. The person, who used to write big, large letters, has to write thin, 'ant writing' over time and his/her handwriting deteriorates severely.
It can also occur in young people
Parkinson's can also occur in young people. There is a group of Parkinson's especially called 'young Parkinson's'. In these, it occurs as a genetic tendency. Either it comes from the family, or they themselves somehow carry these genes by skipping generations and the disease occurs in the early period."
Brain pacemaker greatly improves the quality of life of patients
"In general, today's Parkinson's treatment is actually an area where neurology is successful," says Neurology Specialist Prof. Dr. Sultan Tarlacı,
"When the modern medicines we use today are used in the right way, the quality of life can be improved very well. Especially 2-3 years of the disease is what we call the 'honeymoon period'. The honeymoon, as the name suggests, is a very beautiful period. You give the medication, everything goes very well. Everything quickly returns to normal; but after 3-4 years, the effect of the drugs you give gradually becomes insufficient, the dose needs to be increased; after 8-10 years, when the dose is increased, the side effects of the drugs appear. Depending on the situation, drug treatment (which we prefer in the early period), and brain pacing, which we generally prefer in the advanced period, especially if involuntary movements, movements such as dancing occur after taking medication, are among the methods we prefer. However, if a very socially active, dynamic, young patient wants to use his/her hand and arm and recover quickly without medication, we prefer brain pacemaker sometimes in the very early period and it is a very effective method in the long term. Pacemaker-like pacemakers are implanted in the brain to reduce these involuntary movements and tremors, and can also eliminate stiffness on one or both sides of the body."
The cause of falls may not be old age, but Parkinson's!
Drawing attention to the importance of early diagnosis, Prof. Dr. Sultan Tarlacı said, "A person suddenly falls, falls to the ground, breaks his hip. He is hospitalized in orthopedics. Or they have frequent falls; but no one knows they have Parkinson's. It is interpreted as 'he is 60-70 years old, his walking has slowed down due to age, that's why he loses his balance'. In fact, when you examine him, you can see typical Parkinson's symptoms in his body. The important aspect of recognizing the disease at an early stage is to improve other problems that may occur and to restore the person's daily quality of life."
How should Parkinson's patients be fed?
"When we look at Parkinson's disease, our Mediterranean, Aegean region nutrition is actually an ideal diet for both cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's," he said, and gave the following information about the dietary methods that Parkinson's patients should follow:
Consume plenty of vegetables and fiber foods
"The Mediterranean or Aegean diet is a diet consisting of plenty of vegetables, plenty of fish, seafood, fruits, legumes and nuts, so it is actually something that can be said as a title for our society. But since constipation is very prominent and very disturbing in most Parkinson's patients, we generally recommend a diet with plenty of vegetables and fiber. When we multiply the weight by 30, we can also tell how many milliliters of fluid the person will take in milliliters. In other words, a person weighing 70 kilograms should take in about 2 liters of daily fluid when multiplied by 30.
Eat 1 bowl of yogurt every day, do not neglect vitamin D
Since there is a high risk of falls in Parkinson's disease and long bone fractures, fractures that require surgical intervention, prosthesis and confinement to bed for a long time will occur, it is necessary to harden the bones. In order to harden the bones, we need to eat 1 bowl of yogurt every day and sunbathe to get vitamin D. If we cannot sunbathe, if the sun is low in the seasons, then we should not neglect vitamin D.
Swimming is one of the most effective exercises
On top of all this nutrition, you also need well-coordinated exercise. Because the movements are slow, the muscles are inflexible, and this needs to be helped. The best thing to do for this, especially for people who can swim, is to swim daily or every other day for more than 30 minutes. When swimming is practiced, almost no other exercise may be necessary. But apart from that, the standard activity of walking alone is not a cure for Parkinson's disease.
"Pedaling" is good for Parkinson's disease
Especially fast walking or pedaling, which is a different form of it, is a form of exercise that has been shown to be beneficial for Parkinson's disease. Pedaling is actually a different form of cycling. If the person can ride a bicycle, cycling for over 30 minutes a day has been shown to increase the coordination of the upper limbs as well as the use of the legs. If the person cannot ride a bicycle, pedaling without wheels, which we call 'pedaling' for about 30 to 45 minutes, has been shown to be good for Parkinson's disease.
Dance eliminates movement limitations
"As an exercise, a dance activity that involves all muscles, if possible, can also be done," said Prof. Dr. Sultan Tarlacı, Neurology Specialist at Üsküdar University NPISTANBUL Hospital:
"Dancing like teenagers can eliminate the movement limitations of the disease. There is no limit for dancing, if the person likes it, if he is interested, he can do all dances or movements that increase body coordination. Apart from that, in a professional sense, if the person has an advanced movement limitation, if he/she cannot do these exercises on his/her own, applying Parkinson's-specific physical therapy or neurorehabilitation physiotherapy, which we call 'neurorehabilitation', can restore much better daily life activities by using medications."
