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Glossary of terms and abbreviations in no particular order.

Most of this I copied from "Parkinson's Disease for Dummies" which is surprisingly good !  Published in 2007.

PD -  Parkinson's Disease.
PWP - Person (or People) with Parkinson's.
YOPD - Young Onset Parkinson's Disease.  Diagnosis made when under 50 years old.
Cognition - Those mental skills necessary to process information, such as perception, memory, reasoning, judgement, intellect, and creativity.
MCI - Mild Cognitive Impairment.  Slowness in thought processing time, trouble with multitasking, getting confused in the middle of a task, problems switching from one task to another, and problems with judgment and poor insight. Language and speech problems include word finding difficulties (trouble getting the right word out) and naming difficulties.  Fatigue, stress, and sensory overload can all impact cognitive function.
Bradyphrenia - The gradual slowing or loss of ability to process information
Executive function - The intellectual ability to set goals, make decisions, and perform multi-stepped processes such as balancing a checkbook.  Comment: who balances checkbooks anymore?
DBS - Deep Brain Stimulation.  A surgical procedure that helps control symptoms of advanced PD; electrodes are implanted in the brain and controlled through a battery-operated device known as an implanted pulse generator (IPG) or pacemaker.
Dopamine - The natural chemical substance present in areas of the brain that regulate movement, motivation, and feelings of pleasure.
Neurotransmitter - The body's natural chemicals (such as dopamine) that send messages from one nerve cell to another or from nerve cells to muscles.
MJF - Michael J. Fox !  comment: My hero.
MJFF - Michael J. Fox Foundation
Carbidopa - A drug that, when combined with levodopa, reduces the side effects of levodopa yet improves overall effectiveness of levodopa.
Levodopa (L-dopa) - The most commonly used drug for treatment of PD; restores levels of dopamine in the brain.
Hypomimia - The lack of facial expression and absence of eye-blinking caused by PD. Also called masking or facial mask.  Comment: can be misinterpreted by friends as a blasé attitude, uncaring, unfeeling, uninterested.
Sialorrhea - Drooling.
Dysphagia - The impaired ability to swallow.
Dystonia - Painful muscle contractions or spasms.  comment: THE worst.
Substantia Nigra - The small area of the brain that houses cells that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine, specifically affected by PD.
Basal Ganglia - Groups of cells deep in the base of the brain that help the cortex in controlling voluntary movement and coordination.
Globus Pallidus - One of the areas of the basal ganglia most affected by the lack of dopamine in PD.



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