“The symptoms of PD are mainly motor symptoms including tremor, bradykinesia (slowness of movement), rigidity, and postural instability” (Subramanian, 2009, p. 13). Tthe disease has non-motor symptoms which can be visible to the patients or their families. As Parkinson‟s disease has gradual process, the early motor symptoms can begin on the one side of the patient and during time to be spread on the other side too. “Tremor is often the first symptom that people with Parkinson's disease or their family members notice” (WebMD, 2012, Parkinson‟s Disease-Symptoms, Tremor section, para. 2). The parts of the body which can be affected by tremor are the hands, fingers, feet, mouth and forearms. There are two types of tremor, the “essential tremor” which is noticeable when the person is moving and the “resting tremor” which occurs when the body is relaxed (Tremor and Parkinson‟s section, n.d. para. 6-7).
Bradykinesia is the second main symptom in people with Parkinson‟s disease. The American Heritage Stedman’s Medical Dictionary (n.d) defines bradykinesia -brad·y·ki·ne·sia (brād'ē-kĭ-nē'zhə, -kī-) - as the extreme slowness in movement. Slowness of movement can affect people with Parkinson‟s as they appear to have difficulties in the time of any kind of performance. The daily indoor or outdoor activities take more time than usually as well as walking. “A fundamental problem in parkinsonism is the inability to initiate movement spontaneously;
parkinsonian patients are always getting “stuck” or “frozen”” (Sacks, 2007, p. 255). Kemp et al.
(2013) also write in their article about the “freezing episodes” which may be caused once [the patient has] begun walking (Primary symptoms of Parkinson‟s disease section, para. 3).
Furthermore, rigidity is another symptom of people with Parkinson‟s disease which affect the muscles. Muscles become inflexible and stiff, and sometimes cause pain and cramps (Kemp et al., 2013). “The parts of the body which are usually affected are the arms but rigidity can also affect the muscles of the legs, face, neck, or other parts of the body” (WebMD, 2012, Parkinson‟s disease- symptoms, Other common symptoms section, para. 1). Additionally, rigidity can cause a fixed, “mask-like” facial expression (Rigidity section, n.d., para. 4). The fourth common motor symptom in Parkinson‟s disease is the loss of balance, which according to Kemp et al (2013) can often lead to falls, as well as poor coordination (Primary symptoms of Parkinson‟s disease, para. 4). The reason of patient‟s fallings is related to the two symptoms,
rigidity and freezing, but also to the medicine that Parkinson‟s people take, which may cause low blood pressure as a result dizziness and fallings (“Falls and dizziness”, n.d.).
Being diagnosed with PD, patients have to face not only the bodily and motor impairments but also the emotional and psychological changes like depression and anxiety, which sometimes lead to strange changes in their behavior and isolation. Patients can also sometimes have hallucinations and delusions (“Mental health and Parkinson‟s”, n.d.). People with Parkinson‟s can experience anxiety because of worry about living with the condition or because of possible changes in brain chemicals (Anxiety section, n.d. para. 1). They can be affected by anxiety and being in tension all the time causing fast beatings to their heart, sweating but also being in a constant fear keeping them away from their normal daily life (“Anxiety”, n.d.). Each person can experiences anxiety in a different way but for better quality of life patients or family members should recognize it and ask for help. Drugs are playing an important role in the anxiety of Parkinson‟s people because “some people with Parkinson‟s have anxiety when they are “off””
(Anxiety and Parkinson‟s drugs section, n.d., para. 1).
Another symptom in the mental health of Parkinson‟s people which may experience during their disease is depression. Depression is defined as “a psychotic or neurotic condition characterized by an inability to concentrate, insomnia, and feelings of extreme sadness, dejection, and hopelessness” (“depression”, n.d.). Nevertheless, some of the symptoms of depression are common with the symptoms of Parkinson‟s disease “such as feeling tired, lacking in energy and sleep and night-time problems (Depression and Parkinson‟s section, n.d., para. 3).
The possibilities of a person with PD to suffer from depression rise when for an individual the diagnosis of an illness or disease can cause lot of questions, stress, feelings of sadness, thoughts of death as a result to lead to the social isolation. Hallucinations and delusions in Parkinson‟s disease are common especially in people who have had Parkinson‟s for a long time and the symptoms may be caused partly by Parkinson‟s and partly by some Parkinson‟s medication (Hallucinations and delusions section, n.d., para. 2-3).
Furthermore, a minority of those with Parkinson's will eventually experience dementia as their disease progresses, including loss of memory and other cognitive functions (Kemp et al., 2013, What is Parkinson‟s disease section, para. 1). When a Parkinson‟s patient experiences dementia he/she might have problems of concentration or usually is confused as it is difficult to
remember things like for example everyday tasks. Though, it‟s rare that someone under the age of 65 will develop dementia (Dementia and Parkinson‟s section, n.d.). Furthermore, some other secondary symptoms which can appear according to Kemp et al (2013) are that speech may become slow, whispery or slurred, handwriting may become small, cramped, sleep problems, including waking up frequently during the night or suddenly falling asleep during the day, excessive sweating, sexual dysfunction, aches and pains, trouble chewing or swallowing, risk of choking (Secondary symptoms of Parkinson‟s disease section, para. 2).
Parkinson‟s disease like all the diseases has stages which begin from the time of diagnosis and it is growing until an advanced level. One commonly used scale neurologists use for describing how the symptoms of PD have progressed in a patient is the Hoehn and Yahr scale (NIDS, 2013, What is the prognosis section, para. 2). The Hoehn and Yahr scale presents five different stages of Parkinson‟s disease. The first stage of the disease is when the patients have mild symptoms and the disease affects only one side of their body (Holland, n.d.). The very first symptoms of the disease such as loss of balance or tremor can be noticed by the family or friend environment of the patients easily and they appear only on the one side of the body (NIDS, 2013). In the second stage of Parkinson‟s disease, the patient‟s symptoms are bilateral, affecting both limbs and both sides of the body (WebMD, 2012, The stages of Parkinson‟s disease section, para. 4). In that point it is possible that the patients start taking medicine such as dopamine agonists which according to Holland (n.d.), make the neurotransmitters move more easily (Stage two section, para. 2).
However, when the symptoms become worse, patients move to the third stage of the disease where the difficulties of walking or possibilities of falling increase. This stage is considered moderate Parkinson‟s disease but [the patients] can still function without assistance (Holland, n.d., The stages of Parkinson‟s section, Stage Three, para. 1). In the stage four usually patients need assistance to do physical movements like walking or standing and the “stage four Parkinson‟s disease is often called Advanced Parkinson‟s disease” (Holland, n.d., The stages of Parkinson‟s section, Stage Four, para. 1). Finally the most severe stage of the disease is stage five when patients need assistance and usually they are living with a caregiver or a nurse as they are unable to live alone (Holland, n.d.).