Are You Worried About Parkinson’s Disease?

If you know anything about diseases you are familiar with risk factors and predispositions, if there are such things. When you hear about a chronic disease in the media or have personal experience with a co-worker, neighbor or friend that is somehow directly or indirectly affected by someone with Parkinson’s disease you begin to wonder if Parkinson’s may affect you or someone you love. Are You Worried About Parkinson’s Disease?

Age, a factor:

Statistically, 1 in every 500 individuals are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and out of those who receive the diagnosis, most are in their 50s, 60s or older. It is rare to have someone younger than age 40 diagnosed with the disease. A person who is 80 or older has a 2 in 100 chance of being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, so your risk for the disease increases as you age. Age is definitely a factor for Parkinson’s disease. As long as we are still breathing, we will have this one factor of the disease, age.

What is not a factor?

Parkinson’s strikes males and females and all races, so sex and face is not a factor as Parkinson’s is not particular about what sex you are or what your ethnic background is.

Environmental risk factors:

Individuals exposed to pesticides or herbicides or those who live in rural communities are also at risk for Parkinson’s disease.

Other factors:

Parkinson’s disease has other factors such as having a previous head injury, those who experience impairment of olfactory (smelling). Others who are at risk for the disease include those who have suffered severe emotional trauma, those who experience traumatic loss, and those who have been under stress for a long period of time. If you have an obsessive personality you are also at risk for Parkinson’s disease. Some researchers believe that there may be a risk for Parkinson’s that is heredity but where there is a heredity factor the disease usually develops before age 50. These researchers believe that the genes alpha-synuclein, and parkin are linked to Parkinson’s disease. Researchers feel that there may also be other genes that are connected to the disease.

Symptoms may also put you at risk:

Individuals are also at risk if they notice any of the mild symptoms that can be those of Parkinson’s disease. These mild symptoms include having tremors while your body is at rest, having muscles that become stiff, or cramp up. If you have muscles that seem rigid in your neck, leg or arm this may also be a mild symptom.

Other symptoms are having difficulty moving especially when first getting up in the morning, having poor balance, experiencing a decrease in your manual dexterity (doing things with your fingers or hands), your handwriting starts to become sloppier, you suddenly start drooling in your sleep, and you start to have difficulty sleeping.

These mild symptoms may be risk factors or they may be symptoms of something else, so don’t panic if you have one or more of the mild symptoms listed, just make an appointment to have your symptoms evaluated.

Related Articles

• Are You At Risk For Parkinson’s Disease? - There are a number of risk factors that have been identified and accepted by the medical community. ....
• What You Should Know About Parkinson’s Disease - A person with Parkinson's disease will develop signs and symptoms of the disease slowly, often with ....
• Getting to Know Parkinson’s - If you or someone you know has recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease you are probably sea ....
• Do You Understand the Causes of Parkinson’s Disease? - There has been much research in the past few years regarding Parkinson's disease. Much more is known ....
• What Can You Tell Me About Parkinson’s Disease? - Parkinson's is not fatal but it is an incurable disease. It is also a chronic and progressive diseas ....