Parkinson's disease is a chronic neurodegenerative disease characterized by muscle stiffness, tremors, and slow movement, gradually affecting the patient's daily life. The daily care of patients is very important as it can help alleviate symptoms and improve their quality of life.
Here are some nursing points for daily clothing, food, housing, and transportation of Parkinson's patients:
1. Daily life care
1. Clothing
(1) Choose clothes that fit well and have few buttons, and avoid wearing pullovers and pants with waistbands. The length of the pants is appropriate to avoid stepping on the bottom of the pants while walking and falling.
(2) All cotton, easy to absorb sweat and protect the skin.
(3) Add or remove clothes according to the season, climate, weather, and other conditions.
2. Diet
(1) Sufficient total calories can be provided according to the patient's age and activity level, and attention should be paid to meeting the supply of sugar and protein in the diet, with vegetable oil as the main source and less animal fat intake. People taking dopamine therapy should limit their protein intake. Protein can affect the therapeutic effect of dopamine. The protein intake is limited to less than 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight per day, with a total daily intake of approximately 40-50 grams. Choose high-quality protein products such as milk, eggs, meat, and soy products within the restricted range. Eating seafood in moderation can provide high-quality protein and unsaturated fatty acid, which is conducive to the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis.
(2) The supply of inorganic salts, vitamins, and dietary fiber should be sufficient. Eating more fresh vegetables and fruits can provide a variety of vitamins, promote intestinal peristalsis, and prevent constipation. Patients sweat a lot and should pay attention to replenishing water.
(3) Food preparation should be soft, easily digestible, easy to chew and swallow, and supplied as semi liquid or soft food.
(4) The diet should be light and low in salt. Smoking, alcohol, and stimulating foods such as coffee, chili, mustard, curry, etc. are prohibited. Adequate water supply should be ensured.
(4) Patients with swallowing dysfunction should choose soft and easy to swallow foods, or mix the food into a homogeneous state. When using utensils with large handles, take a sitting or semi sitting position while eating, eat small meals multiple times, chew slowly, and do not urge or disturb eating.
3. Stay in a room that is well lit and easy to get up and down.
(2) The bed should not be too high or too low. The placement of items in the living room should be fixed and orderly to prevent tripping.
(3) There should be handles and handrails indoors, and the bathroom floor should have anti slip facilities to prevent falls.
(4) Be cautious of burns, scalds, etc. Use utensils with large handles that are not easily broken.
4. Reduce indoor steps, walk slowly, and concentrate when walking to avoid losing balance.
(2) The sole of the shoe should be non slip. Do not wear slippers, as they may come off easily and even trip you up.
(3) When walking is difficult, walking aids such as canes can be used to avoid crowded places.
2、 Strengthen limb function exercise
In the early stage of this disease, it is necessary to adhere to certain physical activities, actively engage in limb function exercise, and perform maximum range of flexion, extension, rotation and other activities in all joints of the limbs to prevent muscle contraction and joint stiffness. Late stage patients engage in passive limb movements and massage muscles and joints to promote blood circulation in the limbs.
3、 Psychological care
Parkinson's disease is a slowly progressing process. In the early stages of the disease, patients have a certain degree of labor ability, can take care of themselves, and the tremors are not significant. Patients themselves often do not mind much and do not have too many psychological concerns.
As the condition progresses, the patient gradually loses their ability to work and their ability to take care of themselves significantly decreases. The patient becomes mentally and emotionally low, experiencing anxiety, depression, and other emotions. They worry and sigh all day long, lose interest, and lose confidence in work, study, family, and future. They often have self blame and inferiority complex, thinking that they have lost their ability to work and become useless.
As the condition worsens, patients become expressionless, mentally indifferent, with a "mask face", a monotonous tone, intermittent speech, and decreased communication skills with others. Some patients may develop fear or despair when they learn about the ultimate adverse outcome of the disease. In the later stages of the disease, patients are completely unable to take care of themselves and may develop a pessimistic and disillusioned mentality. So in daily life, it is important to guide patients, care for them more, and reduce their psychological burden.
For Parkinson's patients, in addition to the above points that need to be noted in daily life, it is also important to cooperate with the doctor's treatment and not blindly undergo treatment. At the same time, attention should be paid to rehabilitation exercise.