For most people, Parkinson's disease is associated with trembling hands, but tremor is far from its only manifestation. Some changes can be noticed even before a visit to the doctor. A neurologist from Vladivostok, Artyom Reznichenko, described in his social media three signs of the condition that can be checked at home, according to infohub.kz.
The first sign is slowness of movement. It is worth checking how quickly and evenly a person performs movements with both hands. You can ask them to quickly bend and straighten their fingers or make repetitive movements. If one hand lags noticeably behind the other, this may be a sign of bradykinesia — slowness of movement.
The second symptom is increased muscle tone, that is, rigidity — muscle stiffness and resistance to passive movement. "The first symptoms noticed in a patient are increased tone and slowness of movement," the doctor notes. He suggests gently bending and straightening the person's arm at the elbow while they are not tensing the limb themselves. If the movement feels unusually tight and the arm seems to resist it, this may indicate rigidity. In Parkinson's disease, such stiffness can affect the arms, legs or trunk. Similar manifestations occur not only in Parkinson's but also in other conditions.
The third sign is tremor at rest — involuntary shaking of a limb when it is relaxed and not performing any action. You can ask the person to place their hands on their knees or another surface and simply relax. In Parkinson's disease, tremor more often occurs precisely at rest and in the early stages often begins on one side of the body.
Such a test still does not replace an examination by a specialist: the final diagnosis is made based on the combination of symptoms and the results of testing. Therefore, if a person notices any of these signs, it is a reason to consult a neurologist.
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