Parkinson’s disease or parkinsonism is a chronic and progressive disorder of the motor functioning. It is characterized by tremor at rest which worsens with emotional stress, and is caused by the dysfunction of the basal ganglia. Parkinson’s disease cannot be cured but it requires a sound medical diagnosis and based on the lab tests and reports or imaging, medications are suggested to the patient. The disease is mostly chronic and it can last for years or even lifelong.
The early symptoms of Parkinson’s disease can be tremor in the individual’s hands and slow movement, loss of balance and stiffness are few other symptoms. Parkinsonism is related to few cases of brain tumors as case studies reveal. It might so happen that a patient might develop Parkinson’s disease, post operation of a brain tumor. Look for the hospitals which provide brain tumor surgery in India, and also take good care of their patients post operation. Common symptoms of Parkinson’s disease is the tremor which can occur when a person is resting. It might onset in any of the limbs, hands etc. Postural tremor is also not uncommon. The individual might feel dizziness, a sense of fatigue, restlessness or even poor balance in the whole body. The individual’s sleep cycles may be altered and highly disrupted. He might wake up early suddenly, have bizarre nightmares or even have difficulty falling asleep. Restlessness within sleep is also noted in patients.
Muscular symptoms such as, difficulty in standing, difficulty in making bodily movements and locomotion, rigidity in muscles, involuntary muscular movements, severe problem in coordination, and also exceptionally slow body movement. The patient might experience a stiffness in the muscles, slow or shuffling gait, rhythmic muscle contraction etc. Since it is a neural disease and there is a problem in the neural coordination, hence speech and voice is impaired. There might be soft speech or even voice box spasms. There might be a distorted sense of smell or even loss of smell in few cases. There might also be a stiffness in the jaw, and facial expression is greatly reduced. Dribbling of urine or even leakage of urine is commonly noted in patients.
Cognitive symptoms include fluctuations in mood. Anxiety or apathy is highlighted. Amnesia, dementia, a confused feeling in the evening hours, difficulty in understanding and the thought process is common. Other symptoms like blank stare, daytime sleepiness, difficulty swallowing, constipation, drooling, limping, depression, falling, loss and contrast sensitivity, fear of falling, small handwriting, neck tightness, unintentional writhing, trembling or weight loss is also encountered. The patient might move with a masked face all the time, a depressed and mad look even when the person is not in a bad mood. This is the condition of facial masking common in Parkinson’s disease.
The dizzy feeling or even fainting as a result of low blood pressure is closely linked to Parkinson’s disease. A stooping or hunching in the posture is noticed whenever the person is standing. He seems to be leaning of slouching forward. A neurologist should be immediately referred, if the symptoms persist for quite a long period of time, and there is no significant improvement in the condition.
