Parkinson's Disease: Non-motor Symptoms (Nursing)

00:00 Okay, we've talked about the motor symptoms.

00:02 Now we're gonna look at the non-motor symptoms.

00:06 Now it's got a big name there.

00:07 Autonomic disturbances.

00:10 Yeah, we're talking about the autonomic nervous system.

00:13 Dry eyes.

00:15 They don't have the same sense of taste or smell.

00:18 So food is definitely not as fun as it once was for them.

00:23 They may have difficulty with swallowing and also drooling.

00:26 Now we always worry about that when you see somebody drooling that that might mean they're having difficulty swallowing, and that's why they're drooling.

00:34 And sometimes Parkinson's patients will drool even if they're swallowing is kind of okay.

00:41 So that's a fine balance.

00:43 First of all, it's difficult for an adult to drool.

00:47 That's not--that doesn't make you feel very independent.

00:49 That's something we associate with people who are really, really sick, or not all there, or a baby.

00:56 So this can be a really touchy subject with your patient.

00:59 But body fluids are not working the way we want them to, right? Their eyes are dry. They can't taste or smell.

01:05 They might be drooling.

01:07 They might have excessive sweating, difficulties with orthostatic hypotension.

01:11 Well, you know orthostatic hypotension is when I go from lying to sitting or sitting to standing and they get real dizzy, right? That happens to lots of people if they're on blood pressure medications or they have lower volume.

01:24 That can happen.

01:26 But you take orthostatic hypotension with a Parkinson's patient, well, they're already rigid, stiff, slow-moving, risk for falls.

01:36 You had orthostatic hypotension to that, now we've really got a recipe for disaster.

01:42 So they have to take extra care when they go from lying to sitting, waiting till they're kinda recalibrate, and then sitting to standing very slowly.

01:53 Now, they're extra sensitive to heat and cold.

01:56 So temperature changes are problematic for them.

01:58 They might have bladder problems, sexual dysfunction, constipation, and weight loss.

02:04 So it's not just the motor symptoms.

02:08 These symptoms significantly impact your daily life, so they can struggle with depression.

02:14 Now that may be because of what they're facing or it might also be because of the imbalance in their brain.

02:19 This is one of the tragic ones.

02:22 This is psychosis and dementia.

02:25 So very bright, sharp, fun engaging people can end up with symptoms of psychosis and dementia, and this is, I think, even more difficult to deal with than the motor symptoms for some families.

02:37 It might lose what appears to be their personality and just have a very...

02:44 ...flat affect.

02:46 They don't have the same expressions.

02:48 They don't have the same what appears to be enjoyment.

02:51 It's just a very flat expressionless face.

02:55 So if this is someone that's been your partner for a very long time, and they went from a very fun and gregarious person to just either this flat effect or the psychosis symptoms or dementia, you can imagine how difficult this is for the caregivers, for the family members.

03:12 And then if the patient has periods of being alert and they understand what's going on to them, you can imagine how terrifying that would be.