Insight into the World of Parkinson's Disease Sufferers

Parkinson's disease afflicts an estimated four million people worldwide and is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's. It was first brought to the attention of the medical world nearly 200 years ago, by London physician James Parkinson. Two centuries later, the much sought after cure is still beyond the reach of scientists.

James Parkinson described this chronic, progressive condition as the "shaking palsy" because trembling limbs (known as tremor) are one of the most common and obvious symptoms. Rigid or "frozen" muscles, slowness of movement and clumsiness are among other common symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). A large proportion of sufferers also experience depression, partly because of the disease itself (which affects the nerve cells in part of the brain) and partly because of the emotional turmoil which inevitably follows a diagnosis. Taken together, it's small wonder that so many PD patients still feel there's a stigma attached to the disease and are too embarrassed to tell work colleagues and even close relatives and friends.

Of course a person's world is rocked to its foundations when a Parkinson's disease diagnosis is pronounced. Until a cure is found this is a condition which can only get worse with the passing of time and many victims become wheelchair bound or institutionalised.

The good news is that, thanks to medical advances in recent years, the disease can be effectively managed as long as it's identified early enough and appropriate treatment is started. Many PD sufferers continue to work and live highly productive lives for years after their diagnosis.

Diagnosis in itself is a problem because the symptoms of the disease are often confused with those of other conditions. Misdiagnosis, especially in the early stages of the disease, is fairly common and in fact many Parkinson's patients are never diagnosed at all (the condition may only be revealed after death during a post mortem). Other people displaying PD type symptoms have been treated for the disease for years only to discover later that the doctors got it wrong and they never had the condition at all!