Written Assessment: A (Nursing) (30%) ON Weight: 30% Length: 1,500 words · Task: · For this assessment you can choose which case study you would like to focus your assessment. Case Study 1 Mr Sam Kwon...

Running Head: Case Study of Parkinson’s Disease
Case Study of Parkinson’s Disease 2
HSNS262 ASSESSMENT PART-A
Case Study 2: Mr. Patrick Drew
(Parkinson’s disease)
Student Name:…………….
Submitted to:…………..
University:………………..
    Introduction
Parkinson’s disease is a gradual degenerative neurological disorder that influences the patient’s control over the movement of the body (Davis, Heyne & Stoppler,2018). The patient suffers from progressive loss of cells from the
ain, especially in the Substantia nigra region. The loss of dopamine-producing cells results into the appearance of many motor symptoms like rigidity, slowness of movement (
adykinesia), difficulty in swallowing (dysphagia), and gaze limitations due to the weakness of muscles and tremors (Tosin et al, 2016).
The report analyzes the case study of Mr. Patrick Drew, a 74-year-old man who is suffering from Parkinson’s disease. It also presents the prevalence of Parkinson’s disease in Australia and compares it with that of North America. The study at the end investigates the nursing and inter-professional implications of the disease.
Incidence and Prevalence
According to the report of Deloitte Access Economics Report (2015), there are around 1, 10,000 people living with Parkinson’s disease in Australia (Parkinson’s Australia, 2017). The disease is the second most common after dementia, and highest prevalent in Australia affecting 18% people greater than 40 years of age. The reports show that 1 in every 308 people in Australia has Parkinson’s disease. The disease is more prevalent than cancer. Every day 37 new Parkinson’s cases are diagnosed.
The statistics, when compared to prevalence in North America, provides a more devastating condition. In North America, around 9, 30,000 people will be suffering from Parkinson’s disease by 2020 (Parkinson’s Foundation, 2018). Here, the prevalence of the disease is 9 times higher than in Australia. The statistics show that every year more than 60,000 people are diagnosed with Parkinson’s in America. The study illustrates that the prevalence of the disease increases with age. The men have 1.5 times greater risk of suffering from Parkinson’s disease than the women.
Disease Assessment
The case study shows that Mr. Patrick Drew feels Bradykinesia (slow movement of voluntary muscles), the rigidity of limbs, gaze limitations in all the directions, coughing and choking during his meals. He also perceives postural instability which leads to frequent falls. His symptoms reflect that he is going through the middle stage of Parkinson’s disease (Parkinson’s Foundation, 2018). This stage is distinguished by worsening symptoms, rigidity, tremors and walking issues, with regular falls (Parkinson’s Foundation, 2018).
The disease exhibits certain motor and non-motor symptoms (Shake it up Australia Foundation, 2018). The motor symptoms can be issues in balancing the posture, reduced movements, and issues in shuffling, swinging arms, and drooping shoulders. The patient also experiences reduced facial expressions (masking) (Martinez et al, 2015). Studies show the nonmotor symptoms perceived by the Parkinson’s disease patient may be sleeping disorder, depression, anxiety, swallowing problems (Hegland, Ocun,& Troche, 2014), difficulties in the movement of eyeballs (Suttrup & Warnecke, 2016), cognitive impairment and speaking and writing problems (Shake it up Australia Foundation, 2018).
The symptoms depicted by Mr. Patrick also report limitations in his eyeball movement in all directions, a persistent tremor in his right arm, and limited arm gait. His limbs rigidity is reported to be ‘lead pipe rigidity’, which is marked by uniform rigidity throughout the body (Biology Online, 2015). He also reports having ‘Cogwheel Rigidity’ in his wrists, which is distinguished by jerky tremors during the extension of muscles (Biology Online, 2015).
Mr. Patrick reports to have frequent coughing and choking during his meals however, he does not have any pneumonia and his lungs fields are quite clear. Many Studies prove the health condition of impaired swallowing in Parkinson’s disease (Martinez et al, 2015).
His pathological and biochemical results of hematology are normal. However, the Radio imaging shows Atrophy with widened lateral ventricles and enlarged sulci. Reduced length of Pars Compacta between red nuclei and pars reticularis is also prominent. The differences in size of Pars Compacta and the intensity of the signal is not so remarkable. PET Imaging shows diffused hypometabolism in the cortex.
These quantitative measurements of volume, diameter and areas of
ain can be highly significant to determine the loss of tissues in
ain and the active volume of
ain tissue (Rizzo et al, 2016). The alterations in the regions of tissue volume, changes in signal as detected by MRI scan, and elevated rate of iron deposition, are the anatomical symptoms signifying microglial proliferation, cell loss, and astroglial activation (Heim et al,...