Health - Wellness
Symptoms Of Parkinson's Disease You Shouldn't Ignore
By MEREDITH COOPER
Handwriting Changes
One of the symptoms of Parkinson’s is a handwriting change called micrographia, which causes you to gradually write smaller letters as you go. Some medications can treat this condition, and simple changes like not writing in cursive and maintaining good posture can make a difference.
Blinking Less Often
Blinking helps keep the eyes, particularly the cornea, lubricated, and blinking less often can dry out the eyes, leading to blurry vision. Some people with Parkinson's may experience this symptom and other eyelid-related issues, including being unable to open or close one or both eyelids involuntarily.
Vision Changes
Parkinson's can affect basic eye movements, including saccadic eye movements, which are used for reading. Parkinson's can also affect vergence eye movements, which help keep something focused when it's either moving away or coming towards us, leading to double vision.
Loss Of Smell
Some research shows Parkinson’s starts affecting the area of the brain that regulates the ability to smell, leading patients to experience hyposmia (loss of smell). Some research shows that Parkinson's may start by affecting the area of the brain that regulates the ability to smell before traveling to other areas of it, but this red flag often goes unnoticed.
Stiff Muscles
Even though this Parkinson’s symptom is one of the most common, it is often mistaken for arthritis instead. With Parkinson’s, patients experience lead pipe rigidity, where the muscles feel heavier than usual, and cogwheel rigidity, where a person experiences jerking motions when they try to move.