Parkinson's Disease Symptoms, Signs, Diagnosis

What are some typical Parkinson's disease symptoms and signs?

Before you assume that you or someone you love has Parkinson’s disease, it is important for you to know that not everyone reacts the same way to this disorder. There are many different symptoms that may affect different individuals, so you should make sure to be properly diagnosed.

Some Warning Signs and Symptoms

One of the most obvious set of symptoms affects one's motor skills. These are the outward symptoms and they include tremors even when a person appears to be resting, as well as problems with balance and rigidity.

Often, there will seem to be a slowness of movements and it will appear that a person has gait problems (they seem to walk funny). Other noticeable Parkinson's disease symptoms might include a lack of facial expressions.

As the disease worsens, a person might have trouble speaking and swallowing, which can cause drooling. Visual symptoms, such as the tremors, seem to affect one side of the body at first and may often start in the hand.

Other Parkinson’s disease symptoms and signs include constipation, trouble sleeping, depression and anxiety, mild confusion to severe dementia, unexplained pains and low blood pressure when standing.

With time, a person may have a non responsive facial expression and lose their sense of smell. Parkinson’s can also cause sexual difficulties in some people.

Progression and Diagnosis

Many times, the severity and speed of progression of this disease varies, so while one person may seem to suffer with only a slight tremor for a very long time, another person may be struggling with tremors, having trouble walking and suffering with mood disorders all at the same time. The fact that it does vary so widely in so many people and progresses differently in different people can often make this disease hard to diagnose.

Many people who have the early stages of Parkinson’s disease do not choose to seek medical attention and do not need any kind of treatment for many years. Since the average age of presence of Parkinson's disease symptoms is around 60, many people mistake the disease as a sign of aging. Only when their symptoms worsen do they think it might be something else.

Often, when a person is diagnosed, it is only because they have shown improvement with the use of medications that are typically used to treat the disease. There is no definitive blood test that will identify the disease.

Parkinson’s disease appears in men more often than women, but the reason for that is unknown. Before you assume that you have Parkinson’s, you should also look at other conditions that might mimic some of the Parkinson's disease symptoms and signs.

Signs of Other Conditions Similar to Parkinson's Disease Symptoms

They include medication induced Parkinsonism, which is a condition that can be caused by certain anti-psychotic, anti-depressant and some anti-nausea medication. These will often produce tremors, but the tremors will be on both sides of the body.

Essential tremor is frustrating, but not harmful and is very common. It is when certain body parts move rhythmically. Usually, the hands and arms are affected, and it’s when a person is eating or writing.

Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) occurs around the same age and displays much in the same ways as Parkinson’s disease, but it worsens much more quickly. It can be helpful to rule these out before seeking an official Parkinson’s disease diagnosis.

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