What are the early symptoms of Pankinson's disease?

Parkinson's disease is a relatively common and serious motor coordination disease. Most of the patients are middle-aged and elderly people. With the arrival of an aging population in my country, the number of Parkinson's patients in my country is increasing. If its early symptoms can be discovered, it will help alleviate the symptoms and improve the patient's quality of life. For example, Parkinson's patients often have resting tremors in the early stages, which often cause muscle stiffness, leading to bradykinesia, etc.

Parkinson's early symptoms

1. Resting tremor:

Tremor is often the earliest symptom of the disease, usually starting from the distal end of one upper limb, mainly in the thumb, index finger and middle finger, and manifests as fingers moving like rolling a ball or counting money. Then it gradually spreads to the ipsilateral lower limbs and contralateral limbs, and in the late stage it may affect the mandible, lips, tongue and head. In the early stages of the disease, patients do not pay much attention to tremors, which often occur when fingers or limbs are in a certain position and disappear when the posture is changed.

2. Muscle stiffness:

Parkinson's disease patients often lose flexibility in their limbs and torso and become very rigid. The early stage of the disease usually starts from one side of the limb. In the early stage, one limb may be felt to be inflexible and stiff, which gradually worsens, leading to bradykinesia and even difficulty in performing some daily movements. If you pick up the patient's arms or legs and help him move his joints, you will obviously feel that his limbs are stiff and it is difficult to move his joints.

3. Bradykinesia:

In the early stages, due to the rigidity of the upper arm and finger muscles, the patient's upper limbs are often unable to perform fine movements. For example, actions such as untying shoelaces and buttoning become much slower than before, or cannot be completed smoothly at all. Writing also gradually becomes difficult, the handwriting becomes crooked, and the words become smaller and smaller. This is medically known as "micrographia".

4. Reduced facial muscle movement

The patient rarely blinks, his eye movements are also reduced, and his expression is dull, as if he is wearing a mask, which is medically called "mask face." It is difficult to start walking. Once starting, the body leans forward, the center of gravity moves forward, the steps are small but get faster and faster, and it is impossible to stop in time, which is called "panicked gait"; while walking, the coordinated swing of the upper limb on the affected side is reduced or even disappears; it is difficult to turn around, and several consecutive small steps are required to turn around.

Due to movement disorders of the mouth, tongue, jaw and pharyngeal muscles, the patient cannot swallow saliva naturally, resulting in excessive drooling. The speech decreases and the voice becomes low and monotonous. In severe cases, it can lead to symptoms such as depression and dementia.

After reading the above content, we understand the early symptoms of Parkinson's. Although Parkinson's disease is a chronic disease, if it is not treated in time, the patient's condition will become more and more serious. Current Parkinson's disease treatment drugs can produce toxic side effects if taken for a long time, so patients must carefully monitor themselves during treatment.