CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Critical Analysis of a Piece of Research



Critical Analysis of a Piece of Research

Introduction

This paper provides critical evaluation of an article named, “Risk of Parkinson's disease after hospital contact for head injury: population based case-control study”, written by Rugbjerg, Ritz and others (Rugbjerg & Ritz et al, 2008: 24). The objective of the research is to investigate the relationship between people going for diagnosing their head injury to hospital and risk of originating Parkinson's disease. This study that was conducted is sensible and appropriate as it gives the identification and origin of Parkinson's disease.

The title of the paper clearly summarizes the main idea of the research article. The primary variables for this research are patients with head injury and Parkinson's disease. These primary variables are mentioned in the title which is a positive note for any research conducted. The title of the paper also provides the basis of the population that is case-control study.

Background of the Study

The study is important contribution to the researches conducted in the field of medical sciences and diseases. Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system. It was first described in 1817 by James Parkinson, a British physician who published an article on what he called "the shaking palsy" (Greenhalgh, 1997: 243). In this article, the author described the main symptoms of the disease that would later bear his name. Researchers believe that at least 500,000 people in the United Kingdom currently have PD, although some estimates are much higher. Society pays an enormous price for the disease. The estimated total cost for the country exceeds $ 6.000 million annually (Greenhalgh, 1997: 305). The risks of disease increases with age, so analysts expect the economic impact and public health from this disease increase as the population ages.

A mid-twentieth century, neurosurgery was the method most often used to treat tremor and rigidity characteristic of patients suffering from Parkinson's disease, but the problem was that he was not always successful interventions and surgical complications of gravity that used to arise. With this background, the use of surgery was reduced from 1967 with the market introduction of levodopa, an alternative treatment that provided greater security and efficiency. But with technological advancement experienced in recent years have succeeded in obtaining novel brain imaging techniques that have improved surgical precision, regaining popularity neurosurgery as a treatment for some people with Parkinson's disease for various reasons no longer responding to drug treatment.

In recent years many studies have been conducted to identify exogenous factors that may modify the risk of developing this disease. Using retrospective case-control studies have attempted to relate the regular use of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs and certain vitamins with a lower risk of Parkinson's disease but the results of these studies are contradictory and can not now conclude that the consumption of these drugs reduce the risk of Parkinson's. The strongest association is currently the highest incidence of disease among nonsmokers: a relationship in altering levels of dopamine produced by the snuff and ...