Parkinson's Research Paper

Awakenings, audiences get an inside view of the goings on at a hospital with catatonic patients. In this paper I will be discussing the conditions of the hospital and the relationships between the people who worked there and the residents of the hospital. Their attitude toward Dr, Sayer, and the staff's attitude toward each other. I will also be discussing the symptoms and treatment of the patient's disease of Parkinson's . Although the conditions in the hospital were sanitary and well kept, it was much more of a prison with its countless barred windows and locked doors. Also, the whole hospital seemed darker than it should have been. The staff seemed uninterested in the patients, even getting annoyed when they were called to assist them. The

This was very obvious when he showed the doctors that the patients could indeed move. The disease that the patients had showed symptoms very similar to Parkinson's disease. Almost all of the patients were previously diagnosed with encephalitis lethargic, seemed to be "frozen", and had reflex-like movements like catching a ball. Some were able to move after experiencing things like certain types of music or human contact. Leonard, however was the only one that hadn't had encephalitis lethargic, his symptoms showed up randomly. He had been a healthy boy of eleven until one day when his hand began experiencing extreme unsteadiness. Eventually he was unable to do anything for himself at all. Dr. Sayer, who notices the resemblance to Parkinson's, decides to treat the patients with L-dopa. He tests the drug on Leonard. At first, it has no effect on him. As the dosages went higher, the better it worked, and Leonard received full ability to move. Encouraged, Dr. Sayer held a meeting with people who could fund the nearly $1200 cost of the medicine. Also, the staff of the hospital donated their checks to the