PARKINSON’S DISEASE
This disease mainly affects senior people. As with many other diseases, even Parkinson’s disease presents some symptoms early on. These are not so noticeable or commonly associated with this disease. Hence many people ignore them as they can not correlate with this disease. For example, even though tremors are known symptoms, they may not be prominent initially and occur only on the finger. You may experience it in your jaw or in one hand. Only resting tremors occurring when your limbs are idle are noticeable, and they go away if you perform any task.
Known Symptoms
Early symptoms are slowed movements, balance issues, stiffness or rigidity of muscles, etc. Sometimes, these can affect simple activities such as blinking, smiling, or swinging the arms while walking. Speech and writing changes could also be initial symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. The symptoms may occur on one side of the body initially, and later, you may experience them on the other side.
This disease can present non-motor symptoms such as Restless leg syndrome, Fatigue, Low Blood Pressure, Pain, Skin issues, Dizziness, Sweating, Trouble eating and swallowing, Voice and speed issues, and Dental issues.
However, here are five lesser-known early signs that you must not ignore. These are clues that indicate the onset of Parkinson’s disease. Your doctor may be able to conduct appropriate tests and establish the presence of this disease.
1 Loss of Smell
In the present scenario, we associate loss of smell mostly with Covid 19. However, this symptom is a lesser-known early sign of this disease. The loss of smell appears years before motor symptoms like tremors appear in 90% of the patients, so it is one of the early signs. Hence, seniors should not ignore the persistent loss of smell and must go for a check-up to determine the cause.
2 Anxiety or Depression
Mood changes can occur in Parkinson’s patients up to 10 years before other symptoms appear, and the disease is diagnosed. One must not ignore this symptom, women are more likely to have these symptoms than men. The cause of this symptom is the changes this disease brings about in chemicals in the brain. If you consistently feel anxious or depressed, you must seek medical help for proper check-ups and diagnosis.
3 Constipation
Many seniors struggle with constipation. This issue has been depicted so hilariously and realistically in the hugely popular movie Piku, where Amitabh Bachchan enacted a senior person role. Bowels issue may appear in Parkinson’s patients 20 years before they may be diagnosed with this disease. While there could be many reasons for constipation, it is best to consult a doctor if it occurs consistently. As the disease progresses, people begin to experience bladder issues also.
4 Vision Issues
Issues such as taking longer to read, having double vision, or having trouble moving from one line to the next, etc, could be due to Parkinson’s disease. This disease can affect eye movements and cause eye issues like dry eyes, blinking too often or too little, colour blindness, etc. Hence, seniors should not ignore vision issues like trouble with reading.
5 Showing fewer Expressions
Facial masking or showing fewer expressions is another sign of this disease. Even though you may feel the emotions, you may not be able to display them on your face and may have a blank faces. You may also be smiling lesser. While people may get annoyed and wonder what is wrong, the underlying reason could be Parkinson’s disease. Hence people should take notice of such facial expression changes in the near and dear ones and consider the possibilities and get a check-up done.
Even sleep disorders are an early sign of this disease, and this can deteriorate as the disease progresses. Later on, people may have vivid dreams and even hallucinations. None of these symptoms are conclusive of the presence of this disease.
Waiting for your views on this blog.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
24th April 2023