We spoke to Rowan Wathes, associate director at Parkinson’s UK, about what the commonly misunderstood condition really is and how dental professionals can support patients and colleagues living with it.
Can you please start by just introducing yourself and Parkinson’s UK for me please?
I’m Rowan Wathes. I’m an associate director at Parkinson’s UK and I’m responsible for the Parkinson’s Excellence Network, which is our vehicle for transforming health and care services for people with Parkinson’s.
So, what is Parkinson’s for anyone who might not know. What causes it and what is it like to have it?
Everyone’s heard of Parkinson’s, but it’s actually a commonly misunderstood condition. It’s a progressive neurological condition, which means it progresses over time. There is currently no cure, sadly, and it affects the nerves.
Essentially, it’s an issue with dopamine, the neurotransmitter dopamine. The cells that produce dopamine are not working properly, they die, and people can’t benefit from that neurotransmitter. And that has all sorts of effects on people.
Parkinson’s is associated with more than 40 symptoms and everyone has a slightly different presentation of which symptoms they experience and how severe they are. But the classic symptoms are tremor, rigidity or muscle stiffness, and slowness of movement.
But it’s actually the non-motor symptoms that often bother people as much as those motor symptoms. That can range from pain, apathy, fatigue, hallucinations, psychosis, all sorts of different symptoms that may occur. And as I said, it’s often those non-motor symptoms that can be more troublesome to the individual than the motor symptoms.
How common is it and who is most at risk?
So there are 145,000 people currently living in the UK with Parkinson’s.
It gets more common with age, so with our current ageing population, we expect that number to increase to around 172,000 by 2030. So Parkinson’s is the fastest growing neurological condition in the world. Another way of looking at it is looking at the lifetime risk, so each of us has a risk. One in 37 of us will get Parkinson’s at some point in our lives.
People think it just affects men, but it does affect women almost as much. It’s slightly more common in men, but it affects a large percentage of women. And it does affect people under the age of 50 – that’s known as young onset Parkinson’s. It’s not just a condition that affects older people, although it is more common in older people.
What support is out there for people who are living with Parkinson’s?
The mainstay of support is through the NHS – various sorts of specialist and Parkinson services – usually led by neurology or care of the elderly. But there’s also lots of other elements of support that people can access.
Parkinson’s UK is the biggest charity in the UK for people with Parkinson’s and we support in different ways. Firstly, by investing in research. We’re looking to find a cure obviously, but also we do a lot of investment into research around improving management of symptoms.
We also have a big information and advice branch and that’s through the website, through the helpline and through lots of different channels. And then there’s the work that that I lead which is through influencing health and care services. So Parkinson’s UK is here for people with the condition, and we’re here to support them in many different ways.
The website I mentioned is parkinsons.org.uk, so do take a look and if you have any people under your care, then you can refer them there for help and support. We have lots of resources on our website through the learning hub which are aimed at non-specialist professionals across the board.
They range from short, bite-size learning sessions up to 15 minutes long, to some more detailed sessions. So whether someone has a bit more time or whether they really just want to browse something on the train, we’ve got lots of different options available to people just to give the basics of Parkinson’s and really help people better understand it.
There’s a podcast as well, so lots of different things on the website aimed at professionals so that they are well equipped to manage someone with Parkinson’s.
Bringing it to the dental profession now, how can dental professionals help to support their colleagues and patients living with it?
In terms of colleagues, as I said, the condition is very different depending on who you are. It effects everyone differently. So the best thing is just to talk to that person and ask which elements would help them. It will be different for each individual.
The second thing is just doing a bit of reading to understand the condition a bit more. As I said, it’s commonly misunderstood and people just think it’s a condition that affects movement, whereas it’s much more than that.
So I think perhaps having a browse on the parkinsons.org.uk website and understanding a bit more about the condition – that would help someone who’s looking to help a colleague. And often it’s just a few adjustments that that can make a big difference.
And in terms of looking after patients with Parkinson’s, I think, again, it’s about understanding the condition and understanding how it can affect people. Simple things like helping people get in and out of the dental chair, giving them a bit more time, being that little bit more patient with them as they’re taking their time to move.
It affects facial expressions and facial movements, so it might be a little bit more difficult to open the mouth as instructed. And another thing that is can happen in Parkinson’s, not infrequently, is drooling. So, just being cognisant of that when you’re doing some lengthy dental examinations or procedures.
Find out how Parkinson’s has impacted a dentist’s job and how their life has changed.
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