Early Onset Parkinson's Symptoms

When members of the public to see a person with Parkinson's disease, especially those with pronounced symptoms they come in a variety of conclusions about this person without any knowledge of them or their lifestyle. For this reason there are many erroneous beliefs about the disease that really needs to be corrected Parkinson's patients will live a normal life.

For example, many people believe that Parkinson's disease affects the whole brain, so that mental functioning is compromised. Some of the symptoms of Parkinson's disease include the late problems with speech, body movements and facial spasms, drooling and possibly problems with memory, but that does not mean that Parkinson's patients have lost their minds or are fools. The mind of a Parkinson's patient continues to function perfectly well and they are able to understand everything you say. Their only problem is they have difficulty communicating back and so if another method of communication is developed, you can still hold an intelligent conversation with the disease while suffering from Parkinson's.

Similarly, if a person says, "My partner has Parkinson's disease 'people will think

a) the partner is old and people

b) the persons partner is totally dependent on someone else

Both assumptions are very naa¯ve and ultimately wrong. Although Parkinson's disease affects people over 50 years longer than those under the age of 50, it is not exclusively a "disease of the elderly. Early onset Parkinson's is relatively rare (about 10% of all cases diagnosed), but it exists and it can affect people of all ages. Furthermore, just because a person has been diagnosed as having Parkinson's disease that does not mean that they suddenly lose their independence. People can live many years with Parkinson's disease, without having to rely on anyone but themselves. Only in the late phase of disease where symptoms become severe that Parkinson's patients need help with certain aspects of their lives, like walking and swimming.

So let's say you go to a social event and you meet the person with Parkinson's disease. You and all the others do not even know they have the situation because, contrary to popular belief not all patients have visible tremors or mobility problems, especially in the early stages of the disease. Each patient has Parkinson's different symptoms that are present in varying degrees and although tremors are the most common symptoms of the disease at least 20% of patients never have a tremor in their lives. They may drop things and fall a lot, but they are not really events you would associate with Parkinson's disease, even if they are symptoms of the disease. Thus, assuming that everyone with Parkinson's disease shakes a lot is another common misconception.

There are literally hundreds of beliefs regarding Parkinson's disease who are very ill and just doing some research many of these ideas could be dismissed for good however people in general do not want to spend time sorting fact from fiction and if misconceptions continue to form in the minds of the uneducated.