On April 14, 2024, the Breakthrough Prize ceremony was held at the Los Angeles Film Academy. The well-known female entrepreneur Zhang Zetian attended the ceremony in her 30s. She showed the unique charm of female entrepreneurs with her usual capable image. At the same time, she shared photos of the event on her personal social platform to share this wonderful moment with everyone. She expressed her keen interest in the forefront of human technological progress and said frankly: "There is a history of Parkinson's disease in my family. When I consume too much caffeine or lack of sleep, I can clearly feel my thumb start to tremble slightly."

Picture /Screenshot from Weibo

According to public information, the Breakthrough Prize, known as the "Oscar" of the scientific community , was established in 2012 by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner and his wife to recognize the most outstanding research results in the fields of physics, mathematics and life sciences around the world. This year's Breakthrough Prize mainly recognized scientists who made pioneering contributions in the fields of cancer, Parkinson's disease and quantum field theory. They jointly received a prize of US$15.75 million, equivalent to about RMB 113 million. The generosity of this award is comparable to the Nobel Prize.

Is Parkinson's disease increasing in younger people?

In recent years, the incidence of Parkinson's disease has increased among young people, and this phenomenon is closely related to genetic factors. Parkinson's disease is a chronic neurological disease that usually manifests itself as symptoms such as muscle stiffness, tremors, and motor dysfunction. Studies have found that Parkinson's disease is associated with a variety of gene mutations, which may be passed on to the next generation through inheritance, increasing the risk of young people developing Parkinson's disease. Therefore, young people with a family history of Parkinson's disease should undergo health checks as soon as possible to detect and treat Parkinson's disease early and reduce the impact of the disease on life and work. At the same time, the public should also strengthen their understanding of Parkinson's disease, understand the prevention measures and early symptoms of the disease, and improve their self-protection awareness.

April 11 this year is the 28th "World Parkinson's Day". According to statistics, there are about 4.5 million Parkinson's patients worldwide. When it comes to the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, I believe that the first reaction in most people's minds is "hand tremors". In fact, Parkinson's disease is not just "hand tremors", let's learn about it together!

Medical staff pointed out that the most significant manifestation of Parkinson's disease is movement disorders, which include difficulties in moving, writing, swallowing, and performing simple actions such as buttoning. In addition, patients will experience uncontrollable tremors in their hands, feet, head, and even lips and jaws when they are at rest, and the tremors will worsen when they are nervous. As the disease progresses, the patient's body loses its flexibility and becomes stiff. Although these symptoms seriously affect the quality of life of patients, non-motor symptoms that are often overlooked also need attention. Hu Yongsheng, chief physician of the Department of Functional Neurosurgery at Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, emphasized that the symptoms of Parkinson's disease can be divided into two categories: motor symptoms and non-motor symptoms. Non-motor symptoms may include early hyposmia, insomnia, constipation, etc., as well as mood changes and changes in cognitive function. These are important manifestations of Parkinson's disease in the early stages.

Sleep disturbance is one of the most common non-motor symptoms among patients with many diseases.

Medical staff have found that among the non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease patients, sleep disorders are the most common. According to the specific manifestations of patients, we can divide them into the following types: First, patients will have abnormal behaviors such as shouting, punching and kicking during sleep; second, during communication with others, patients may suddenly fall asleep, but usually wake up naturally after 10 to 20 minutes; third, patients have difficulty falling asleep and wake up frequently or too early during sleep. In addition, there is another manifestation that the patient will feel extreme discomfort in his legs when resting at night, but this discomfort will be relieved or disappear completely after activities.

Parkinson's disease is often mistaken for a normal aging process.

Parkinson's disease, as a common neurodegenerative disease, increases in incidence with age, and has a profound impact on the nervous system and the parts of the body it controls. It is worth noting that because the early symptoms of the disease may be relatively mild, they are often mistaken by patients and their families as normal physiological aging phenomena, thus failing to attract enough attention.

There is currently no cure for Parkinson's disease, but its symptoms can be effectively relieved and the patient's quality of life can be improved through medication and surgery.

Currently, there is no cure for Parkinson's disease. However, through drug treatment, the patient's symptoms can be significantly relieved, and surgery, as an auxiliary means, also shows its therapeutic potential. Therefore, early identification and timely treatment of Parkinson's disease are particularly important.

In addition, it is worth noting that Parkinson's disease patients generally face a heavy psychological burden in clinical practice. According to statistics, about 35% to 45% of patients will experience emotional problems such as anxiety and depression. In this case, the encouragement and praise of family members are particularly important. They can not only enhance the patient's willingness to recover, but also relieve their psychological pressure to a certain extent and promote the patient's overall recovery process.

Young people can also get Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease has long been regarded as a disease exclusive to the elderly, but in recent years' surveys, we have found that this concept is no longer accurate. Young people are also at risk of developing Parkinson's disease. Medical staff have made it clear that although the specific cause of Parkinson's disease has not yet been determined, the medical community generally believes that the degeneration and death of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra is one of the main causes. In addition, environmental pollution, infection, drugs and chemicals may also be important factors in inducing the disease. Further studies have also found that genetic factors play an important role in the occurrence of Parkinson's disease in young people. Therefore, we must face up to the threat of Parkinson's disease to young people and take effective measures to prevent and treat it.

Hu Yongsheng, chief physician of functional neurosurgery at Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University: More and more young people are suffering from this disease. This disease now has a tendency to occur at a younger age, and most of it is related to genetic factors. If there is a patient with Parkinson's disease in the family, the probability of getting Parkinson's disease is relatively higher, and the age of onset may be younger.

By maintaining a regular lifestyle and increasing social activities, you can effectively reduce the risk of developing Parkinson's disease.

Medical staff solemnly pointed out that in order to effectively prevent Parkinson's disease, people should actively participate in various social activities, constantly improve their language expression skills, maintain regular living habits, and avoid overwork. In addition, medical staff also emphasized that alcohol must be strictly abstained from in order to maintain physical health. Once symptoms related to Parkinson's disease appear, patients should immediately seek medical attention and seek professional doctor's advice and guidance.