Insight into Parkinson's Disease
WHAT IS PARKINSON'S DISEASE?
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive disorder that affects the nervous system and the parts of the body controlled by the nerves. Symptoms start slowly. The first symptom may be a barely noticeable tremor in just one hand. Tremors are common, but the disorder also may cause stiffness or slowing of movement.
In the early stages of Parkinson’s disease, your face may show little or no expression. Your arms may not swing when you walk. Your speech may become soft or slurred. Parkinson’s disease symptoms worsen as your condition progresses over time.
Although Parkinson’s disease can’t be cured, medicines might significantly improve your symptoms. Occasionally, a health care professional may suggest surgery to regulate certain regions of your brain and improve your symptoms.
HOW IS PARKINSON'S DISEASE DIAGNOSED?
Parkinson’s disease is currently diagnosed using a ‘clinical diagnosis’. This means that a doctor that specialises in neurology (someone who deals with disorders of the brain and nervous system) will assess your symptoms during a clinic appointment. They will look at the way that you walk and move, they will listen to how you speak, they might ask you to write your name repeatedly, they will ask you questions about symptoms and your medical history, they will do a physical examination and ask you to perform certain actions.
Usually, this is enough to diagnose PD. There are no specific tests to diagnose PD. However, if the neurologist is not sure or they want to exclude another disease, they might conduct some further scans, such as an MRI or CT scan, but these cannot diagnose PD, they just tell you that it isn’t something else. Another way to confirm a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease is to see how you respond to medication used to treat PD, such as Sinemet (levodopa). If your symptoms significantly improve, this confirms the diagnosis. The main ‘motor’ symptoms that confirm a diagnosis of PD are:
Tremor in one hand or leg (70% of people with Parkinson’s disease have this)
Rigidity in the muscles (your muscles will be stiff)
Akinesia (this means that your movement is difficult or slow)
Postural instability (balance problems)
WHO GETS PARKINSON'S DISEASE?
There are an estimated 1 million people in the U.S. living with Parkinson’s disease and more than 10 million people worldwide. Most people who develop the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease do so sometime after the age of 50, but Parkinson’s disease can affect younger persons as well. Approximately 10% of Parkinson’s diagnoses occur before age 50—these diagnoses are called Young Onset (or Early Onset) Parkinson’s disease.
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