Parkinson’s disease indicates a progressive neurological disorder, which affects about 1 million of people in America. A majority of parkinson’s disease motor symptoms affects motor functions or body movements and thereby, constitutes the characteristic of the effects of the disease on any human body.
Parkinson’s disease has five primary motor symptoms, which include rigidity, tremor, slow movement i.e. bradykinesia, balance problems/postural instability and gait or walking problems. Doctors thus diagnose parkinson’s disease problem in patients based on the observation and identification of one or more than one of each of these symptoms associated with the problem.
It is essential to consider that not each of the motor symptoms remains present to perform Parkinson’s disease diagnosis. Particularly, young people merely notice either of the mentioned motor symptoms and that too during the initial stages of the problem.
Why Motor Symptoms Take Place?
Sunstantia nigra neurons present in the human brain produce dopamine i.e. a neurotransmitter responsible for the transmission of signal to different parts of human brain to produce purposeful and smooth movements. When neurons present in substantia nigra suffer damages in relatively large numbers, loss of dopamine results in impaired body movements and parkinson’s disease motor symptoms, which include impaired balance, rigidity, tremor and loss of movement in a spontaneous way.
What are the Different Motor Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease?
Tremor/Rhythmic Tremor is a Motor Symptom of Parkinson’s Disease
Rhythmic tremor or simply tremor associated with Parkinson’s disease characteristically takes place during rest and is classically slow. In addition, it starts in a particular foot, hand or leg and eventually affects both sides of a human body. Resting tremor associated with the Parkinson’s disease takes place in the chin, jaw, tongue or mouth. Moreover, some people dealing with Parkinson’s problem may experience a feeling associated with internal tremor, which usually remains unnoticeable in front of other people.
Rigidity is also a Motor Symptom of Parkinson’s Disease
Rigidity indicates stiffness or tightness of torso or limbs. Especially, rigidity takes place during the initial stages of the problem and in some cases; doctors attribute it in a wrong way to orthopedic problems, such as injury of rotator cuffs or arthritis.
Another Motor Symptom of Parkinson’s Disease is Bradykinesia/Slow Movement
Bradykinesia/Slow Movement is a frequent Parkinson’s disease symptom and its related body movement disorders. Along with slow movement, the problem typically demonstrates the reduction or mask-like expression of one’s face i.e. facial masking or hypomimia, a reduced blinking rate of human eyes and problems associated with motor coordination. In addition, such patients may deal with difficulty while turning over in bed or do it slowly, micrographia or small handwriting and various other similar symptoms.
Postural Instability is yet Another Motor Symptom of Parkinson’s Disease
Postural instability occurs during the later stages of Parkinson’s disease and it includes the incapability in maintaining a steady and an upright posture, along with prevention of fall. Balance problems in case of Parkinson’s disease tend to listing or falling backward. In fact, a small push may cause parkinson’s disease patients to continue with stepping in backward direction or to fall down.
Gait or Walking Difficulties is also a Motor Symptom of Parkinson’s Disease
Postural instability or Bradykinesia contribute to gait or walking difficulties in Parkinson’s disease patients, especially when the progress of the disease. Reducing in natural swing in either one or both arms while body movement is a common and early symptom associated with the Parkinson’s disease whenever a patient walks. Later steps in this case may become small and slow, along with the problem of shuffling gait or festination. Gait problems associated with Parkinson’s problem may even include tendencies to propel in forward direction with short and rapid steps, also called as propulsion. Along with this, people dealing with Parkinson’s disease usually deal with freezing episodes, in which feet glue towards the floor.
Vocal Symptoms
Along with the mentioned core motor symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease, vocal changes or vocal symptoms take place commonly. These problems partly take place because of the problem of slow movements. Voice of a person may become too much soft or it may involves strong and fading away. In addition, one can experience normal variation in emotion and volume present in the voice, because of which such person speaks in monotone. Later on, in case of advanced Parkinson’s disease, speaking problem becomes rapid with crowded words or stuttering problems.
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