People with Parkinson’s

People with Parkinson’s –  Have they always existed?

Physicians have been observing the symptoms of people with Parkinson’s disease for a long time. Ancient records dating back thousands of years provide early descriptions of people with Parkinson’s disease symptoms. A medical text from ancient India, dating back to the tenth century B.C.E., describes a disease with symptoms resembling PD, including tremors, lack of movement, and drooling.

In the ancient Indian medical system known as Ayurveda, dating back to 5000-3000 BC, there is evidence of the earliest known reference to a condition people with Parkinson’s disease manifest. The neurological disorders in the Ayurveda are thought to be due to an imbalance of ˜Vata. Parkinson’s is often referred to as kampavata because of their similar clinical features. Ayurveda characterizes kampavata as a condition marked by tremors, stiffness, depression, and limited movement.

I think an explanation is necessary.

What is Vata?

Ayurveda recognizes Vata as one of its three Doshas. Pitta and Kapha are the other two. People with Parkinson’s have their Vata imbalanced. Doshas represent impurity, a combination of two elements. The doshas consist of water, air, space, fire, and earth these are the five elements that make up these biological energies. The doshas aid in assessing the quality of individuals, locations, or objects.

Vata is a Dosha characterized by air and space as its dominant elements. Vata dosha controls both the mind and body.

Ayurveda is a holistic discipline that prioritizes the maintenance of a harmonious physical and emotional state. Indian monks seeking improved health led to the emergence of Ayurveda around 5,000 – 6,000 years ago. Considering their bodies as holy places, the monks thought that maintaining their well-being was crucial for their spiritual development. They collected their conclusions and advice from thousands of years of observations and preserved them for the future. Ayurveda, also called the science or knowledge of life is the name for this collection of knowledge.

The Chinese seem to be among the first to document descriptions that resemble to those of people with Parkinson’s Disease. These descriptions date back to around 425 BC. According to reserchers, traditional Chinese medicine has long recommended an antitremor pill. This pill still utilized in traditional practices today. In the ancient book, Ru Men Shi Qin, Zhang Zihe (1156- 1228) provided the first description of a typical case of Parkinson disease. In conclusion, there were people with Parkinson’s in China approximately 2400 years ago.

Were the physicians on the old continent aware of people with Parkinson’s?

In A.D. 175 the medical researcher Galen described the symptoms now associated with PD: tremors while at rest, postural stooping, and paralysis, symptoms that people with Parkinson manifest. Others through the centuries described one or several of the characteristic symptoms but without a clear understanding of the cause or the progression of the disease.

Who was Galen?

Galen, also known as Galen of Pergamon, was a renowned physician, surgeon, and philosopher in ancient Rome and Greece. He greatly influenced the fields of anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology, neurology, philosophy, and logic.

There are several references to ailments that are very similar in symptoms manifested by people with Parkinson’s in the Ancient Greek literature.

There is no definitive evidence to confirm that these conditions were Parkinson’s disease, but the similarities suggest that the Ancient Greeks and later the Romans had knowledge of similar ailments and their associated symptoms.

In the Odyssey, Homer writes about King Nestor, who exhibits symptoms that are typical of people with Parkinson’s disease, symptoms that prevent him from participating in athletic competitions.

In the third century BC, Erasistratus of Keos describes a freezing sensation that resembles to the freezing sensation manifested by people with Parkinson’s disease. He refers to it as paradoxos, a type of paralysis that causes a person to suddenly stop walking and be unable to continue, but eventually wears off over time.

Erasistratus of Ceos (310-250 b.C.) is considered one of the precursors of study and research in the anatomical area, doing the first dissections along with Herophilus, their teacher, founder of the Schools of Medicine and Anatomy of Alexandria. He made important contributions in the study and teaching of neuroanatomy, among other anatomical disciplines.

Dioscorides mentions in his Materia Medica that beaver testicles, when prepared with vinegar and roses, can be helpful in treating lethargy, tremors, convulsions, and neurological diseases related to the nerves.

Pedanius Dioscorides (40 – 90 AD), the father of pharmacognosy, was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of De materia medica, On Medical Material, a 5-volume Greek encyclopedia about herbal medicine and related medicinal substances (a pharmacopeia), that was widely read for more than 1,500 years. For almost two millennia Dioscorides was regarded as the most prominent writer on plants and plant drugs.

Celsus (make no confusion with Celsius) also describes a similar condition in his work, de Medicina Octo Libri, while Galen is often credited with providing the first definitive definition of motor function disorders in his writings.

Aulus Cornelius Celsus (c. 25 BC – c. 50 AD) was a Roman encyclopaedist, known for his extant medical work, De Medicina, which is believed to be the only surviving section of a much larger encyclopedia. The De Medicina is a primary source on diet, pharmacy, surgery, and related fields, and it is one of the best sources concerning medical knowledge in the Roman world.

Galen, in his work On Tremor, Palpitation, Convulsion and Shivering, even distinguishes between different forms of these conditions based on their origin and appearance.

Parkinson’s disease (PD), as conventionally understood, was definitively described by James Parkinson in his 1817 work An Essay on the Shaking Palsy. However, historical accounts reveal that the condition was documented much earlier. Notably, Ferencz Pápai Páriz, a Hungarian physician, described the disease with all four cardinal signs

•  resting tremor,
• bradykinesia,
• rigidity, and
• postural instability in 1690, over 120 years before Parkinson’s classic description.

Ferenc Pápai Páriz’description appeared in his medical text written in Hungarian, which limited its accessibility and recognition in the broader medical community. This language barrier contributed to the oversight of Pápai Páriz’ work in the historical narrative of Parkinson’s disease.

The article on PubMed highlights the importance of recognizing Pápai Páriz early descriptions and correcting the historical record to acknowledge his contributions. This underscores the value of revisiting historical medical texts and ensuring that contributions from non-English-speaking regions are included in the medical literature.

For further details, you can refer to the article on PubMed: Historical description of Parkinson’s disease in 1690 by Pápai Páriz Ferencz .

However, the first definitive study of Parkinson’s disease in Western medicine is credited to the English doctor James Parkinson. In 1817, he published An Essay on the Shaking Palsy, which provided a thorough and detailed description of the disease that now bears his name. James Parkinson’s essay is considered a landmark in medical literature as it systematically characterized the symptoms and progression of the disease, laying the groundwork for future research and treatment.

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