As the World Brain Day on July 22 this year is dedicated to raising awareness for Parkinson’s Disease (PD), experts warn that those suffering with the neurogenerative brain disease may be particularly impacted by the current Covid-19 pandemic.
Especially, in the backdrop of social distancing norms, leaving the patients to be confined in the four walls of their houses making him vulnerable to anxiety and stress, said Dr Rajinder K Dhamija, Head of Neurology Department of the Lady Hardinge Hospital, Delhi as he advised that they should be encouraged to keep in contact with their healthcare providers.
“Although no direct effect of Covid-19 has been reported yet on people suffering with the PD, there are enormous possible indirect effects and implications,” he added.
World-over, more than 7 million people are affected with PD while in India, the prevalence is around 10 per cent of the global burden. It is known to occur in 1 per cent of people above the age of 65 years.
“These days we are getting cases of as young as 40 year-old impacted with the disease. This is called young-onset-PD. PD symptoms develop slowly over a long time, and could be caused by nerve damage in the brain. One of the more common warning signs of the brain condition includes a smelly symptom that you may not be noticing,” added Dr Debashish Chowdhury, Head of the Neurology Department of the GB Pant Hospital in Delhi.
Early diagnosis and access to effective treatment are vital in order to help patients find relief and enhance their quality of life. Dr Chowdhury shared that it is must that the patients maintain their routine dosage and healthy lifestyle.
Many symptoms of PD are poorly recognised and undertreated, which is detrimental for those living with the disease. There is a profound need for improved standards of care across the globe to prevent the neuro-disease, Dr Dhamija pointed out.
Another contributory factor may be that the immune response in PD may be disrupted and this may also predispose this population to Covid 19, he added.
Persons with PD infected with SARS-CoV-2 are likely to have a motor and non motor deterioration. Hence, clinicians must assess these patients for worsening in PD from baseline status and up titrate the dopaminergic drugs as necessary. Lack of physical activity may lead to a worsening in the motor as well as non motor symptoms such as constipation. Patients should be advised to follow a light yoga program at home, mindfulness applications and maintain stretching and exercises may be followed with apps, tele-consultation and video consultation techniques.
“We are in touch with our patients through tele-consultaion to ensure that their better health,” said Dr Chowdhury.
Also, PD patients should be encouraged to join peer support groups via social media services as well as various societies so that they may be able to interact with other peers during these trying times. These strategies may encourage PD patients to be resilient even in times of crisis, said the doctors.