Diagnosing Parkinson's disease
There are several neurological disorders that result in movement abnormalities and so Parkinson's disease can be difficult to diagnose in the first instance. Around 25% of all cases are initially diagnosed as a different condition, especially when the physician has little of no experience of Parkinson's disease and other conditions that present very similar symptoms.
It is important that the correct diagnosis is made so that treatment and therapy can start straight away. This will not only improve the patient's prognosis but will also hopefully reduce many of the symptoms to an unnoticeable level.
The first step in diagnosing Parkinson's disease is to actually make an appointment with the physician. Many people delay seeking medical advice either because they are scared of the outcome or they think their symptoms are trivial and not worth bothering with. Unfortunately Parkinson's disease is a progressive disease and so any trivial symptoms will get a lot worse without medication and so a medical check-up is strongly advised for any symptoms associated with the disease.
At the clinic, the physician will review the patient's medical history and conduct a physical examination. This involves watching the patient walk around, sit down, stand up, change direction, turn around an so on so that the physician can get a clear picture of how the patient's co-ordination, movement and balance are.
The physician will look for signs of bradykinesia (slowness of movement), akinesia (loss of movement or problems initiating a movement), rigidity (stiffness in the limbs that would produce a shuffling gait or a slightly robotic walk), tremors (in the early stages these may only be apparent in one side of the body but are quite noticeable when the patient is at rest), impaired mobility (trouble walking, keeping their balance unaided, hunched shoulders while walking) and any other abnormalities in the patients overall physical appearance. The physician may also consult with family and friends so that a wider view of the patients symptoms can be uncovered i.e. he may ask about the symptoms in the morning when the patient is just out of bed or in the evening when they are tired from a day's work.
The physical examination is the only diagnostic test so far available for Parkinson's disease because the changes in the brain's structure caused by the condition are so microscopic that they are not revealed by imaging techniques or by blood tests for dopamine. Thus the diagnosis is solely down to the judgment of the physician which is why it is critical to consult a physician who has intimate knowledge of the signs and symptoms associated with Parkinson's disease sufferers.