What are Parkinson’s disease symptoms?
There are around 40 different types of Parkinson’s symptoms but people with Parkinson’s will not necessarily experience all of these symptoms over their lifetime of having Parkinson’s. These can range from motor problems – such as bradykinesia (slowness), rigidity (stiffness), postural instability and tremor, to non-motor problems – such as low blood pressure, and fatigue. Symptoms can affect people in different ways, some people may only experience some of these symptoms, while others can experience different symptoms at different times during their Parkinson’s lifetime.
What is Parkinson's disease caused by?
Parkinson’s occurs when people lack enough of a necessary chemical in their brain called Dopamine, this Dopamine allows the messages to go from the parts of the brain that control areas such as our motor function to where they are needed. The reduction in dopamine causes people to experience Parkinson’s symptoms, such as slow movement and stiffness. Unfortunately, we do not yet know what causes people with Parkinson’s to lose their dopamine quicker than people of a similar age.
What we know about Parkinson's disease
Parkinson’s facts
Parkinson’s can affect anyone and start at any age. Although, it more commonly affects people over the age of 50 years old, young onset Parkinson’s can affect younger people; albeit it is much rarer for younger people to get Parkinson’s.
One of the reasons why Parkinson’s can be a difficult complex issue to treat and manage is that everyone’s experience can be different. While there are 40 different Parkinson’s symptoms, people with Parkinson’s will not necessarily experience all of these symptoms.
Some people only experience some symptoms, while others can experience different symptoms at different times during their Parkinson’s journey. These can range from motor problems – such as slowness and stiffness, to non-motor problems – such as low blood pressure, and fatigue.
People with Parkinson’s lack enough of a necessary chemical in their brain called Dopamine, this Dopamine helps the messages to go from the parts of the brain that control areas, such as our motor function, to where they are needed. This reduction in dopamine causes people to experience Parkinson’s symptoms such as slow movement and stiffness.
Having signs of slowness of movement, muscle stiffness, and/or tremor can all be common early signs of Parkinson’s. In addition, some other early signs could be micrographia (small handwriting), loss of smell, problems with constipation, and/or disturb sleep, as well as other symptoms known to be related to Parkinson’s.
Parkinson’s can progress at different rates for each person with Parkinson’s, and their experience of the condition can be unique to them too. This individuality in the way Parkinson’s progresses and affects people means that it is very difficult to predict and describe how Parkinson’s will progress.
The majority of people diagnosed with Parkinson’s will have no family history of Parkinson’s, and thus will not have inherited it. However, very rarely, a small number of people can have a genetic susceptibility to the condition, which means the condition could be passed from one generation to another. Genetic testing can sometimes help discover if a person has a specific gene linked to Parkinson’s
Parkinson’s is a progressive and degenerative neurological condition caused by the slow and steady loss of dopamine within the brain. This means symptoms will also appear slowly over time. At the beginning symptoms can be quite indiscernible to the person experiencing them, and its only when these symptoms gradually become more noticeable that people will seek to discuss them with their GP.
Some people with Parkinson’s can have issues with their eyes; for example double vision, and dry eyes. Issues can be due to Parkinson’s, the medication used to treat the condition, or a sign of a related Parkinson’s conditions such as Progressive Supranuclear Palsy.