Early symptoms of Parkinson's disease: more than just "shaking, slowness, and stiffness"

When it comes to Parkinson's disease, many people first think of the three typical symptoms of "shaking, slowness, and stiffness". However, the early manifestations of Parkinson's disease are actually more hidden and diverse. Understanding these less well-known symptoms is of great significance for early detection and intervention of the disease.

In addition to the well-known tremors, slow movements, and muscle stiffness, hyposmia is one of the symptoms of Parkinson's disease that is often overlooked in the early stages of the disease. Many patients will gradually find that their sense of smell has become less sensitive and their ability to distinguish various smells has decreased in the early stages of the disease. For example, the originally fragrant meals smell lighter, and perfumes, floral scents, and other odors are no longer as easy to detect as before. This is because Parkinson's disease affects the nerve cells related to smell in the brain, causing olfactory dysfunction. Because hyposmia is not easy to attract people's attention in daily life, it is often mistaken for an ordinary nasal problem or a natural change with aging, thus missing the opportunity for early diagnosis.

Sleep disorders are also an important early signal of Parkinson's disease. Many patients have good sleep quality before the disease, but in the early stage of the disease, they will experience insomnia, dreaminess, and easy awakening. Among them, rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is more prominent. Patients will shout, punch, kick and other violent movements during sleep, as if they are experiencing a fight in their dreams. This is because in normal rapid eye movement sleep, the body's muscles are paralyzed, and this mechanism of Parkinson's patients is abnormal, causing the movements in dreams to be expressed uncontrollably. This sleep problem not only affects the patient's own rest, but may also cause trouble to the co-sleeper.

Constipation may also be an early "warning" of Parkinson's disease. Intestinal function may be affected in the early stages of Parkinson's disease. Patients will find that bowel movements become irregular, stools are dry and hard, and defecation is difficult. Even if dietary fiber intake and water intake are increased, the situation is difficult to improve. This is because Parkinson's disease affects the autonomic nervous system of the intestines, weakening its peristaltic function, causing feces to stay in the intestines for too long, and excessive water absorption, thus causing constipation. Although constipation is very common in daily life and is easily regarded as an ordinary digestive problem, if it persists for a long time and no other obvious reasons can be found, it is necessary to be alert to the possibility of Parkinson's disease.

Emotional changes are also one of the symptoms that are easy to appear in the early stage of Parkinson's disease. Patients may feel anxious and depressed for no reason, have large mood swings, and lose interest in things that they were interested in before. These emotional problems may have existed quietly before the typical symptoms such as "shaking, slow, and stiff" appear. They are related to the imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain, and Parkinson's disease is a disease that affects the neurotransmitter system.

The early symptoms of Parkinson's disease are varied, far more than "shaking, slow, and stiff". Paying attention to these subtle physical changes can help us detect the disease as early as possible, take timely treatment measures, delay the progression of the disease, and improve the quality of life of patients.