Anyone who is perfectly healthy will tell you that life can be pretty tough already. There is so much that needs to be done and yet fully healthy people struggle to get it done. So what would life be like for someone with a neurodegenerative disease?
What is a Neurodegenerative Disease?
This is any ailment that targets the nervous system. As an effect, the processes and relay of information which is normally attributed to the nervous system progressively gets damaged and deteriorates over time.
As you may know, our brain uses the nervous system to relay actions or decisions. You are able to move your fingers and other limbs because your brain is telling your nervous system to move your body. A neurodegenerative disease impairs that.
If you’ve ever watched Pokemon, you’re probably become familiar with the Slowpoke. It’s a hippo looking thing with a silly grin. It is said that the brain process of that thing runs so slow that they could lose their tail and by the time they realize it, a new one has already grown to replace the previous one. It’s kind of like that. Your brain is telling the body to do something but the relay is so slow it’s even perceived and mistaken to be partial paralysis.
The reason why we don’t just twitch all the time is because our brain tells our body that it shouldn’t. Someone with a neurodegenerative disease eventually cannot control what their body does. If you’ve ever seen any odd spasms or movements, chances are they have a neurodegenerative disease. This can make everyday life quite difficult. Constant movement means the muscles do not get to rest and are constantly sore or in pain.
Good luck trying to write, drive, or even cook when your hands are twitching uncontrollably.
There is no doubt that having neurodegenerative disease is highly impairing and really affects the quality fo life a person is able to have. We only hope that our medicine advances enough that we are able to have a cure one day.
From your own knowledge, how does neurodegenerative disease affect life?