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What Are The Early Warning Signs Of Parkinson's Disease?

Would you want to know in advance if you were going to develop a chronic disease like Parkinson's? Would it be important to you to catch the disease early so that you could take steps to improve your chances of slowing the disease's progress? Knowing the early warning signs of Parkinson's disease would then be important for you to recognize. Unfortunately the first signs of Parkinson's disease (PD) are not visible until approximately 80% of the neurons in the brain have been destroyed. Therefore the first signs of the disease actually signal that the disease has already progressed to a late stage. Noticing certain signs though can still have a positive effect on diagnosing and getting early treatment for Parkinson's so that the individual can have the best quality of life for as long as possible.

Tremors are usually the first sign of the disease and typically will be noticed in the hands and feet first. The tremors then progress to the head, neck and to the limbs. To distinguish the difference between the tremors associated with Parkinson's and the tremors associated with other diseases you can look to see if the tremors disappear when the affected part is moved, if the tremor ceases upon movement, then the tremor is likely caused by Parkinson's.

Another defining factor pointing to the diagnosis of Parkinson's is rigidity. Rigidity is extensive muscle tone, in other words stiffness of a muscle.

Poor balance and coordination is caused by the tightness of the muscles and uncontrollable tremors. It can also make for poor hand to eye coordination. The patient may start to drop objects or are unable to catch objects that are thrown to them or are not able to hold onto an object. They may also find themselves stumbling over nothing at all and then have to grab onto something to prevent a fall.

Another factor is difficulty in moving such as slowed movements or difficulty getting into motion or a decrease in range of motion of a joint. A person with Parkinson's might shuffle, take short steps or may stumble when walking. They usually do not swing their arms at their sides as most people do when walking, they will hold their arms still while walking. Their handwriting will change including becoming smaller in size and the letters will be poorly formed, so much so, that eventually the handwriting is illegible.

Another thing to watch out for is other sensory sign such as feeling pain, or a feeling of restlessness, and also burning sensations in the hands and feet. Also, numbness can be another sign in the hands and feet.

It is important to note that some of the same signs and symptoms of Parkinson's disease can be attributed to other diseases so it is important to not assume that if you have any of these symptoms that you have Parkinson's until you can get into a doctor's office and start the process of being diagnosed.