{"id":8114,"date":"2018-04-12T20:15:03","date_gmt":"2018-04-12T19:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/?p=8114"},"modified":"2022-05-24T10:50:39","modified_gmt":"2022-05-24T09:50:39","slug":"parkinsons-disease-myths-reality-and-recommendations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/12\/parkinsons-disease-myths-reality-and-recommendations\/","title":{"rendered":"Parkinson’s disease – myths, reality and recommendations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Parkinson's<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Myth 1: Parkinson\u2019s disease is a purely \u2018motor\u2019 disorder<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of the typical early signs and symptoms of Parkinson\u2019s disease include slowing, tremor and loss of mobility, all of which are motor symptoms and signs. However, there are many other symptoms that people with Parkinson\u2019s disease can suffer from such as urinary symptoms, drop in blood pressure, speech and swallowing difficulties, mood and memory problems, fatigue and pain. These are important to recognize because they can interfere with people\u2019s lives and yet many of them can be treated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myth 2: Only older people are diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most people diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s disease are over the age of 60 years. However, it\u2019s entirely possible to be diagnosed earlier in life. Young-onset Parkinson\u2019s<\/a> occurs when an individual receives a diagnosis of Parkinson\u2019s disease in their 40s (or even younger e.g. 20s or 30s).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myth 3: Parkinson\u2019s disease is purely genetic or purely due to environmental factors<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whilst most patients with Parkinson\u2019s disease have the sporadic variety (i.e. the condition comes on for no apparent reason), a small proportion (<10%) may have inherited the relevant gene(s) from a parent. Such genetic causes of Parkinson\u2019s disease are much more common in some populations. In addition, there are several known genes that have variations in people that can act as risk factors for the disease. There are also some environmental factors which are known to play a role in the development of Parkinson\u2019s disease, such as prolonged exposure to pesticides, repeated head injury, levels of exercise and many others. However, most of these only subtly change the risk of developing Parkinson\u2019s disease and are not in themselves \u2018causes\u2019. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myth 4: The only brain chemical lost in Parkinson\u2019s disease is dopamine<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whilst the most commonly recognized motor symptoms and signs of Parkinson\u2019s disease relate predominantly to the loss of brain cells producing dopamine, the levels of many other neurotransmitters become abnormal in the disease, for example, serotonin, acetylcholine and noradrenaline<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myth 5: The progression of Parkinson\u2019s disease is predictable<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The way in which different people first notice symptoms of Parkinson\u2019s varies, as does the rate at which their symptoms progress. There is not a reliable, accurate way of predicting how quickly or slowly an individual patient\u2019s symptoms will progress. Some forms were classically thought to progress slowly, such as \u2018tremor-dominant Parkinson\u2019s\u2019, but such generalizations may not be accurate for the whole course of the condition<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myth 6: Besides taking medications, you can\u2019t do anything to help with treatment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lifestyle modifications can have a beneficial effect on the symptoms of Parkinson\u2019s disease. Eating healthily and appropriately and exercising can be beneficial in managing Parkinson\u2019s symptoms and the longer-term outlook. Staying active can help maintain a sense of independence, as well as increase muscle strength, flexibility and balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myth 7: Once you\u2019re diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s, there\u2019s little to no hope<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

People with Parkinson\u2019s disease can lead fulfilling lives. The disease is progressive, and there is not yet a treatment to slow, stop or reverse the disease, but the symptomatic treatments are very effective and can allow for significant improvements in the quality of people\u2019s lives. Apart from a range of very effective oral medications, there are also advanced therapies for when the oral medications alone are not effective. These can be treatments such as deep brain stimulation, intestinal dopamine pumps and subcutaneous pumps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myth 8: Levodopa should be delayed for as long as possible<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are some patients and doctors who are concerned about using levodopa or other Parkinson\u2019s medications and feel that they should be withheld for as long as possible to avoid the medications becoming ineffective. However, there is little evidence to support this and most Parkinson\u2019s experts would recommend treatment to start when symptoms become apparent and affect people\u2019s lives. Treatment is particularly effective in the earlier part of the disease course. Effective treatment at this stage can mean people continue to live their normal lives, undertaking the work or activities they wish to, whilst minimizing the impact of the disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is for information only and should not be used for the diagnosis or treatment of medical conditions. myHealthSpecialist makes no representations as t<\/span>o the accuracy or completeness of any of the information in this article, or found by following any link from this article<\/span>. Please consult a doctor or other healthcare professional for medical advice.<\/span><\/span><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"Dr<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dr Tabish Saifee, Consultant Neurologist<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Book an appointment with Dr Tabish Saifee<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Myth 1: Parkinson\u2019s disease is a purely \u2018motor\u2019 disorder Many of the typical early signs and symptoms of Parkinson\u2019s disease include slowing, tremor and loss of mobility, all of which are motor symptoms and signs. However, there are many other symptoms that people with Parkinson\u2019s disease can suffer from such as urinary symptoms, drop in… Continue Reading Parkinson’s disease – myths, reality and recommendations<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nParkinson's Disease - Myths, Reality and Recommendations - myHealth bytes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Many of the typical early signs and symptoms of Parkinson\u2019s Disease include slowing, tremor and loss of mobility, all of which are motor symptoms and signs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/12\/parkinsons-disease-myths-reality-and-recommendations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Parkinson's Disease - Myths, Reality and Recommendations - myHealth bytes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Many of the typical early signs and symptoms of Parkinson\u2019s Disease include slowing, tremor and loss of mobility, all of which are motor symptoms and signs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/12\/parkinsons-disease-myths-reality-and-recommendations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"myHealth bytes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-04-12T19:15:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-24T09:50:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/shutterstock_696318976.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dr Tabish Saifee, Consultant Neurologist\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"myHealth bytes\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/12\/parkinsons-disease-myths-reality-and-recommendations\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/shutterstock_696318976.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/shutterstock_696318976.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":667},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/12\/parkinsons-disease-myths-reality-and-recommendations\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/12\/parkinsons-disease-myths-reality-and-recommendations\/\",\"name\":\"Parkinson's Disease - Myths, Reality and Recommendations - myHealth bytes\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/12\/parkinsons-disease-myths-reality-and-recommendations\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-04-12T19:15:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-24T09:50:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ff5caaac32aa8e6650957e6ee62589a3\"},\"description\":\"Many of the typical early signs and symptoms of Parkinson\u2019s Disease include slowing, tremor and loss of mobility, all of which are motor symptoms and signs\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/12\/parkinsons-disease-myths-reality-and-recommendations\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/12\/parkinsons-disease-myths-reality-and-recommendations\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/12\/parkinsons-disease-myths-reality-and-recommendations\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Parkinson’s disease – myths, reality and recommendations\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ff5caaac32aa8e6650957e6ee62589a3\",\"name\":\"Dr Tabish Saifee, Consultant Neurologist\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c84fcb77a57a6e44388e251247d22171?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c84fcb77a57a6e44388e251247d22171?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dr Tabish Saifee, Consultant Neurologist\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/author\/drtabishsaifee\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Parkinson's Disease - Myths, Reality and Recommendations - myHealth bytes","description":"Many of the typical early signs and symptoms of Parkinson\u2019s Disease include slowing, tremor and loss of mobility, all of which are motor symptoms and signs","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/12\/parkinsons-disease-myths-reality-and-recommendations\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Parkinson's Disease - Myths, Reality and Recommendations - myHealth bytes","og_description":"Many of the typical early signs and symptoms of Parkinson\u2019s Disease include slowing, tremor and loss of mobility, all of which are motor symptoms and signs","og_url":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/12\/parkinsons-disease-myths-reality-and-recommendations\/","og_site_name":"myHealth bytes","article_published_time":"2018-04-12T19:15:03+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-05-24T09:50:39+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/shutterstock_696318976.jpg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dr Tabish Saifee, Consultant Neurologist","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/","name":"myHealth bytes","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/12\/parkinsons-disease-myths-reality-and-recommendations\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-GB","url":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/shutterstock_696318976.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/shutterstock_696318976.jpg","width":1000,"height":667},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/12\/parkinsons-disease-myths-reality-and-recommendations\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/12\/parkinsons-disease-myths-reality-and-recommendations\/","name":"Parkinson's Disease - Myths, Reality and Recommendations - myHealth bytes","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/12\/parkinsons-disease-myths-reality-and-recommendations\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2018-04-12T19:15:03+00:00","dateModified":"2022-05-24T09:50:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ff5caaac32aa8e6650957e6ee62589a3"},"description":"Many of the typical early signs and symptoms of Parkinson\u2019s Disease include slowing, tremor and loss of mobility, all of which are motor symptoms and signs","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/12\/parkinsons-disease-myths-reality-and-recommendations\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/12\/parkinsons-disease-myths-reality-and-recommendations\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/12\/parkinsons-disease-myths-reality-and-recommendations\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Parkinson’s disease – myths, reality and recommendations"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ff5caaac32aa8e6650957e6ee62589a3","name":"Dr Tabish Saifee, Consultant Neurologist","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-GB","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c84fcb77a57a6e44388e251247d22171?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c84fcb77a57a6e44388e251247d22171?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dr Tabish Saifee, Consultant Neurologist"},"url":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/author\/drtabishsaifee\/"}]}},"views":3869,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8114"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8114"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17051,"href":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8114\/revisions\/17051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}