Can mental stress cause Parkinson's disease ?
There has been no constant definition of stress , whereas people have different ideas with respect to the definition of stress , it is known as physical , mental , emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension . There are different types of stress , such as physical stress which refers to physical activities and events that wreak havoc on the human body, emotional and traumatic stress which are the most common . Stress may be acute or chronic, according to the American Psychological Association , chronic stress refers to an extended stress that may last for years and even decades . Mental ( Chronic ) stress occurs when the individual is exposed to ongoing stressors without relief, which leads to the activation of complex neurologic and endocrinologic reactions that stimulate the secretion of specific hormones. The constant release of stress hormones causes changes in brain and body chemistry and function . These hormones are typically involved in the flight or fight reaction. When an individual is exposed to high levels of stress on an ongoing basis, the constant production of stress hormones causes them to build up in the body, the glands that produce them become fatigued, and mental and physical illness and disease can set in
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Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by the loss of dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) and, to a lesser extent, in the noradrenergic neurons of the locus coeruleus (LC). Most cases of PD are idiopathic and sporadic and are believed to be the result of both environmental and genetic factors. At this report two articles were chosen to discuss the possible relationship between chronic resistant stress and Parkinson's disease . The first one is a case report about patient who had traumatic stress . The second is a case study was made on rats by exposing them to severe and prolonged stress . Both articles indicated that the ongoing exposure to stress causes neurodegeneration, specifically causes neural damage in SN and LC . Which is the hole mark for Parkison's disease .
