The Parkinson ‘s is a degenerative neurological disease that affects the central nervous system and, consequently, the mobility of persons and their motor system, becoming a movement disorder. It is generated because the body does not create enough dopamine, a chemical in charge of controlling mobility. It is a chronic, degenerative and irreversible disease that is usually suffered from an advanced age, approximately 65 years, and its degenerative process can be more or less slow depending on each person, but it is not terminal.
In this FastlyHealarticle, we are going to know the initial symptoms of Parkinson’s so that you can know how the disease usually manifests itself and in the case of thinking that you may be suffering from it, or someone you know, we encourage you to consult a doctor about the situation.
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Initial Parkinson’s Signs and Symptoms
There are many signs that can tell us that a person is beginning to suffer from Parkinson’s. In the following list, we are going to name the initial symptoms of Parkinson’s , but you should know that only some of the signs that you are going to read below can manifest, it is not normal to suffer all of them initially:
- Body tremors , especially in the extremities. It is the most common and well-known initial symptom of Parkinson’s. It consists of violent or non-violent seizures of the body that prevent habitual physical behavior and can make it difficult to carry out basic and simple activities such as walking, eating or writing. This occurs because the neural connection has a fault, since it does not generate dopamine and, therefore, there is no control of movement.
- Muscle stiffness or dystonia: the person’s musculature becomes stiff due to an inability to relax the muscles, as the neural order of muscle strain is not carried by neurotransmitters.
- Body instability: abundant falls or little control of the body in space, for example, trying to catch an object and not being able or, on the contrary, that an object that is held in the hands falls unintentionally while we are holding it. This symptom is very common and can be very subtle.
- Slowness of movement: called bradykinesia. It consists of performing the movements slowly and deliberately. It may be that on the same day the movement flows correctly and at a specific moment this slowness appears that can lead to carrying out daily tasks over a long period of time, for example, putting on a belt can involve a temporality of one hour.
- Mood swings and unstable mood : the physical state directly affects the psychological, the bodily experience creates frustration, pain, anger and that translates into mood swings, low spirits and can lead to depressive states.
- Urinary incontinence: due to the lack of muscle and sphincter control, sporadic or habitual cases of urinary incontinence may be experienced.
- Inability to initiate a movement : called akinesia. This symptom consists in that the body becomes paralyzed before the need to carry out a movement, for example, speech. You can remain paralyzed for a few seconds or an hour. While this happens, the basic and unconscious bodily actions are carried out without problem: breathing, blood supply, etc.
- Loss of smell: syndrome called hyposmia. It is a very common symptom in patients and is one of the signs that allows us to differentiate Parkinson’s from other motor diseases. It happens because when there is a lack of dopamine, an excess and accumulation of alpha synuclein appears, which is stored in the olfactory bulb and reduces people’s ability to smell.
- Constipation : the internal digestive organs do not generate adequate movement and can lead to difficulties in the digestive system.
- Eye problems: caused by lack of eye mobility. It can lead to loss of sight, difficulty in centering or focusing it in a specific place. Sometimes, it can be associated with a lost gaze due to the impossibility of channeling it to the desired place.
- Dysphagia : that is, difficulty eating because there is a blockage at the time of swallowing and it is difficult to perform this action. It is also due to neuronal failure. This can lead to weight loss and should be controlled because it could also cause problems such as drowning.
- Speech difficulty: Another sign that may be known is stuttering, blocking in the middle of a conversation, or apparent difficulty finding words to express yourself. Also, an initial symptom of Parkinson’s is the fact that the affected person’s voice changes, speaking lower and softer. This is due to the difficulty of motor control and the dysfunction of the informative application.
- Walk with small steps: another way to know this disease is by the way of walking of who can begin to suffer from it. Normally, the march is carried out with very small steps, followed and hardly lifting the feet off the ground due to the deterioration of the motor system. In addition, it is usually accompanied by a forward or backward curved body posture.
- Neutral facial expression: inability to show emotions or sensations through physiognomy due to lack of control in the facial muscles. The person may appear to remain abstracted or cold to emotions.
Risk factors and treatment of Parkinson’s
In the case that you have recognized yourself in any of the previous sections, we recommend that you make a visit with your doctor, but if you also have a family history and, therefore, a possible genetic component; You are over 60 years of age, you have consumed or breathed toxic substances throughout your life and you are a man, you are more likely to be suffering from this disease, since these are the risk factors that it presents.
Diagnosing Parkinson’s is not easy, as symptoms must be taken into account, but there is no medical or scientific way to diagnose it. For this reason, it is important that with the initial symptoms you go to the doctor in order to have a better control and follow-up.
In the event that the diagnosis is positive, that is, that you suffer from Parkinson’s, current treatments differ greatly, from pharmacological and body treatments such as rehabilitation and massage , surgical interventions , such as the application of a pacemaker in the affected area, or alternative therapies. This is because there is no single or curative treatment.
This article is merely informative, at FastlyHeal .com we do not have the power to prescribe medical treatments or make any type of diagnosis. We invite you to see a doctor in the case of presenting any type of condition or discomfort.
If you want to read more articles similar to Initial symptoms of Parkinson’s , we recommend that you enter our Brain and Nerves category .

I am a Surgeon with a diploma in comprehensive ultrasound and surgical care residency, an area I am specializing in. During the exercise of my profession, I have realized the need for patients to know the diseases they suffer, and I can tell you that a large part of their complications is due to a lack of information. Being a health web writer allows me to transmit my experience, without borders, to all those readers eager for knowledge, educate them in the prevention of diseases and promote a healthy lifestyle.