It is rare that a patient will begin the diagnosis process with neurologist; typically it is a general practitioner or family doctor that notices the early signs of Parkinson’s disease. What are some of the early signs or symptoms of Parkinson’s disease?

One of the first signs of Parkinson’s disease is that the patient is losing weight for no apparent reason or that the patient complains of poor sleeping.

Sometimes the patient is depressed and uninterested in anything in life.

The patient may also be observed to be “slowing down” in regards to physical movements. The patient may feel light-headed when rising to a standing position, or experience difficulty in communicating such as slurred or slow speech or taking longer than normal to name things.

The patient may complain of sexual dysfunction, pain in the large joints, or may complain of having vision problems that do not respond to eyeglass prescription changes. Another common complaint is that the individual may have difficulty identifying common odors. The individual may if asked admit to having difficulty making quick decisions.

When the Doctor gives the Parkinson’s sufferer a medical they will notice the inability for the patient to stay erect, another thing that will be obvious will be how the Parkinson’s sufferer walks usually very slowly – this is known as the ‘Parkinson’s gait’.

Sometimes the early signs of Parkinson’s disease are so subtle that only the trained eye can pick them up, otherwise they may be missed. It is in fact, difficult to diagnosis Parkinson’s disease in the early stages. Approximately 8 to 35% of cases are misdiagnosed; so difficult is making the correct diagnosis. At the present time there is no laboratory test that can be used to accurately diagnose Parkinson’s disease.

Friends and family might notice symptoms that the Parkinson’s patient is suffering from like the Parkinson’s gait, shaking and finding it hard to do things for themselves.

Another symptom of Parkinson’s is that they will speak very softly and this makes it hard to understand what the patient is saying. Or their handwriting instead of being a normal size becomes so small it looks more like a scribble.

The Parkinson’s patient can forget there ‘train of thought’ very quickly and this can make them bad-tempered with family and friends.

Often the Parkinson’s suffer might feel very stiff and shaky on their feet and might suddenly ‘freeze’ when trying to walk through a doorway.

The tremor typically will begin in the hand. The tremors can also appear in the foot, face or jaw. The individual may complain of aches, pain or of feeling stiff or weak. Their arm or leg movements may be jerky, short or with rigidity. There may be a noticeable lack of automatic movement such as swinging of arms while walking.