If you are over the age of 65, your odds of having Parkinson’s disease, or PD as it is widely known as in the PD community, is three out of 100. However, approximately ten percent of PD cases are reported to be in people under the age of 40.
How do you know whether you might have PD? The symptoms of parkinsonism (as it is commonly referred to in the medical circle) is a tremor in either or both side(s) of your body, difficulty in walking (slowness, stiffness, tripping, dragging foot), bradykinesia, and rigidity.
Age used to be a common factor in that most patients tended to be over the age of 65. However, having a celebrity like Michael J. Fox and advocates like him has brought much awareness to the effects of the disease and we are becoming more educated, in that people under 65 are experiencing the effects of this disease as well.
Research also shows that men may be facing the risks of PD twice as much as women. Studies are showing that estrogen may be a sort of protection for women until their menopausal years. PD has shown up in a higher rate of women who have had hysterectomies. Studies have shown that PD progression is quicker in men than in women. Other differences show that while men are at a greater risk for rigidity and tremor, women tend to be more at risk for gait disturbance.
Many factors come into play in regards to family history. People with siblings or parents with PD are at a higher risk for developing the disease, except for those with family members who developed the disease at an older age. Their risk factor for Parkinson’s disease is average, with Caucasians leading the pack among varying cultures.
While no one is recommending nor promoting the following, coffee drinkers and smokers tend to have a lower risk for developing this disease. For whatever reason, researchers have yet to understand why smokers appear to have a 40% lower risk for Parkinson's disease and coffee lovers about a 30% less risk.
So, with the risk factors having been noted, exactly how is PD diagnosed?
When a movement disorder specialist performs a neurological exam, a medical history is recorded, followed by a physical exam. The patient is then asked about symptoms that s/he has experienced while the doctor observes him followed by a request to do specific and relevant tasks as part of the exam while the doctor continues to observe the patient and note the results.
The neurological exam, while perhaps seeming what some may consider being silly (touch your nose with your eyes closed, jump on one foot, etc), is a thorough evaluation of the nervous system. This evaluation is the neurologist’s test in determining the patient’s diagnosis. It gives him/her the extra information needed to make a correct diagnosis of whether Parkinson’s is indeed present.
Doctors must rely on judgment when considering a diagnosis of PD. They are familiar with the characteristics of PD, the signs and symptoms and therefore have a keen ability to make a proper diagnosis. They observe how similar the symptoms and findings mimic PD in a patient from the neurological exam. Their conclusion is known as a clinical diagnosis.
It is after the diagnosis is made that treatment therapy is discussed and begun. Since PD affects each of its recipients differently, drug therapy will also differ, depending on age, symptoms and other factors.
It can be said that Parkinson’s is a chronic disease for which there currently is no cure, but it is also not a death sentence to those who find themselves sitting in a chair across from a doctor who has just uttered, “You have Parkinson’s disease.” It can be frightening, but the disease does not have to control you.
You have the ability to chart your course of action. You will summon strength you did not know you had in order to fight the "little monster" – if you choose to do so. Your physician/neurologist can only recommend a path of treatment. You will be the one who ultimately chooses to walk it. However, as a new member of the PD community, you must know that you will never walk alone. Unless of course, you choose to do so. And that would be a very sad choice.
If you have recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease or know someone who has, simply type in Parkinson’s disease in the search bar of your browser and start searching. There are hundreds of resources at your fingertips. Try being more specific and add ‘support groups’ to your search and the state you reside in. The community of people living with Parkinson’s is ready to embrace you and be a support… if you choose to let them.