Parkinson’s disease is medically described as a neurodegenerative disorder which affects each person differently. Even though there might be common signs and symptoms that patients will experience, the disease has different effects on people.
Below we have listed some of the early symptoms, though it’s good to know that all of these symptoms can be from other common diseases or illnesses.
Body Tremors: when a person experiences a slight shaking of the chin, hands or fingers when they are not moving, they might be showing early symptoms of the Parkinson’s condition.
Handwriting Changes: this condition is also known as micrographia. It occurs when the affected person starts to write smaller letters and the letters are shrink and crowd together.
Loss of Smell: the inability of a person to smell certain scents of foods can be considered to be an early symptom of the PD. Though flu and cold can also cause this.
Trouble Sleeping: lack of sleep can be an early indication of Parkinson’s condition, but also can be a result of emotional and physical stress. Sudden movements and thrashing accompanied with insomnia are early symptoms of PD.
Difficulty Moving or Walking: mobility issues and body stiffness can be caused by lack of exercise or over exercising. But if this condition persists even after moving around, then they could be suffering from Parkinson’s. Slow in motion/movement (bradykinesia) happens to be a related symptom.
Hunching Over/Stooping: this can be caused by possible injury to the backbone/skeletal tissue. It’s also caused by osteoporosis. But if the above two aren’t the cause and a person still slouches or walks while hunched over, they could be suffering from PD.
Masked Face: the individual will frequently have an angry look, blank face or an immobile serious expression. The person will be staring into space with no expression.
There are 5 stages of the Parkinson’s condition. Understanding these stages is crucial as it will help you in dealing with the condition.
Stage One: mild symptoms are experienced when an individual can still do their daily activities. Tremors and immobility symptoms will experienced on one side of your body. Visible signs like facial expressions, walking postures will be easily noticed.
Stage Two: the symptoms begin to progress. The whole body experiences rigidity, tremor and poor posture. Walking problems are more evident and daily tasks become difficult to perform.
Stage Three (mid-stage): slowness in movement and loss of balance are major symptoms in this stage. Frequent falls are experienced and the person’s ability to perform daily tasks has become impaired.
Stage Four: these symptoms are more limiting and severe. Movements will need the assistance of a walker, standing is still possible, but performing simple tasks will require assistance. It would be best for the individual to get assistance from a home care service.
Stage Five: this stage is both debilitating and advanced, the symptoms are very severe and limit any movement. The legs become very still, hence the inability to stand and walk. Patients become confined to wheelchairs and finally bedridden. Delusions and hallucinations will be experienced by the patient.
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