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Neurology (Expert Forum)
Re: Huntington's? Parkinson's? Father refuses to go to Dr.
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Re: Huntington's? Parkinson's? Father refuses to go to Dr.
by CF-Neuro-MD, Jan 01, 1995 12:00AM
Posted By CCF Neuro MD# on March 30, 1998 at 15:46:59:
In Reply to: Huntington's? Parkinson's? Father refuses to go to Dr. posted by jenny on March 30, 1998 at 15:08:35:
Please help. My father has something bad, he refuses to go to the dr., ever since my Mom died with a brain tumor and was misdiagnosed for quite a while first, he does not believe in doctors. He also says that he doesn't want to know because he will give up, and he knows he will live longer in ignorance.
I think he has Parkinson's or Huntingtons, but I don't know. His symptoms started with shaky handwriting about 2 years ago, then he began to say he had a hard time talking, though we couldn't tell. In the last year, he has slow, rhythmic shaking in his hands/arms only, usually under stress, though sometimes when he rests it stops, and it stops when he sleeps. Yesterday he wasn't shaking hardly at all, though his speech was much worse. He now has very much difficulty in swallowing, talking and eating. He has lost at least 30 or 40 lbs. He drools pretty bad, and we are starting to not understand him when he talks. He seems to walk ok and moves around fine, climbs into things to play with my 2 year old, etc., though his arms shake. He can't seem to move his lips, they seem sort of frozen. He is mentally sharp, he contracts through my brother's company and writes software for Microsoft, solving complex algorithms. Though he doesn't talk much and when he does it is very hard to understand him, he constantly tells us he is not losing it mentally.
His grandfather died from Huntington's disease and his aunt at a very young age, in her 30's, but his own father, now around 85, has never had any of the symptoms, that we know of anyway. My dad is 59.
Do you have any advice on how I could convince him to go to the dr, or what he might have, or what I can do. We love him very much. We are ready to do whatever it takes to take care of him and help him as much as possible. Any advice would be really appreciated.
On family history alone I feel Huntington's is not very likely, the
symptoms you describe sound like Parkinson's or a variant of it, if this
is the case there are a lot of treatments available to make his symptoms
much less distressing and improve his quality of life.
Parkinson's Disease is suggested by the writing problems, soft speech, tremor,
drooling ; swallowing problems are described in a large minority
of patients. Retained intellectual capacity would also fit this diagnosis.
It is really impossible to suggest how you approach your own father to
convince him to see a doctor, perhaps the possibility that there is a wide range
of possible treatments available might convince him to see someone ?
You should really push the issue though as it sounds like he is missing out on a lot of
available help.
He may be scared of the possible diagnosis of Huntington's, the fact that
he probably has a potentially treatable disorder may help you persuade
him to seek help.
In Reply to: Huntington's? Parkinson's? Father refuses to go to Dr. posted by jenny on March 30, 1998 at 15:08:35:
Please help. My father has something bad, he refuses to go to the dr., ever since my Mom died with a brain tumor and was misdiagnosed for quite a while first, he does not believe in doctors. He also says that he doesn't want to know because he will give up, and he knows he will live longer in ignorance.
I think he has Parkinson's or Huntingtons, but I don't know. His symptoms started with shaky handwriting about 2 years ago, then he began to say he had a hard time talking, though we couldn't tell. In the last year, he has slow, rhythmic shaking in his hands/arms only, usually under stress, though sometimes when he rests it stops, and it stops when he sleeps. Yesterday he wasn't shaking hardly at all, though his speech was much worse. He now has very much difficulty in swallowing, talking and eating. He has lost at least 30 or 40 lbs. He drools pretty bad, and we are starting to not understand him when he talks. He seems to walk ok and moves around fine, climbs into things to play with my 2 year old, etc., though his arms shake. He can't seem to move his lips, they seem sort of frozen. He is mentally sharp, he contracts through my brother's company and writes software for Microsoft, solving complex algorithms. Though he doesn't talk much and when he does it is very hard to understand him, he constantly tells us he is not losing it mentally.
His grandfather died from Huntington's disease and his aunt at a very young age, in her 30's, but his own father, now around 85, has never had any of the symptoms, that we know of anyway. My dad is 59.
Do you have any advice on how I could convince him to go to the dr, or what he might have, or what I can do. We love him very much. We are ready to do whatever it takes to take care of him and help him as much as possible. Any advice would be really appreciated.
On family history alone I feel Huntington's is not very likely, the
symptoms you describe sound like Parkinson's or a variant of it, if this
is the case there are a lot of treatments available to make his symptoms
much less distressing and improve his quality of life.
Parkinson's Disease is suggested by the writing problems, soft speech, tremor,
drooling ; swallowing problems are described in a large minority
of patients. Retained intellectual capacity would also fit this diagnosis.
It is really impossible to suggest how you approach your own father to
convince him to see a doctor, perhaps the possibility that there is a wide range
of possible treatments available might convince him to see someone ?
You should really push the issue though as it sounds like he is missing out on a lot of
available help.
He may be scared of the possible diagnosis of Huntington's, the fact that
he probably has a potentially treatable disorder may help you persuade
him to seek help.
