The doctor told about the first symptoms of Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease is a chronic disease of the nervous system in which neurons responsible for movement gradually die. Galina Chudinskaya, a neurologist at Medicine JSC (Academician Roitberg Clinic), told Izvestia on March 25 how to recognize the first signs of it.

The main symptoms of the disease are tremor (trembling), muscle rigidity (stiffness) and bradykinesia (slowness of movement). In addition to their physical condition, patients often suffer from depression and other psychoemotional disorders.

"One of the most characteristic symptoms is tremor at rest. Sometimes the patient may notice that his hands start to shake involuntarily, more often on one side. It is also worth looking at the possible stiffness of the muscles when movements become limited, the legs seem to "stick to the floor", the handwriting changes, it becomes small, the signature of the patient changes. Due to the slowness of movement of the facial muscles, wrinkles on the face are smoothed out, and the effect of a "mask on the face" appears. In the early stages, symptoms may appear only on one side of the body, and this is important for diagnosis," said Chudinskaya.

According to her, the disease develops in stages. In the later stages, the patient loses the ability to maintain balance, and movements become more and more limited. In the most severe stage, a person loses the ability to move without assistance.

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When will medicines become available and for whom is their absence critical?

At the beginning, the disease can be slowed down with medications that stimulate the production of dopamine in the brain. This reduces the severity of symptoms such as tremor and rigidity. However, in the later stages, medications become less effective. Patients begin to experience side effects such as drug resistance, which requires increasing the dose and shortening the intervals between doses. In some cases, surgical treatments are used, such as installing electrodes to stimulate the brain.

"The diagnosis is based on the symptoms observed by the doctor, as well as on the results of additional studies, such as an MRI scan of the brain using a special program, where the "black substance" is clearly visible, the part of the brain where neurons die. Doctors are conducting tests to rule out other diseases and confirm the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease," she concluded.

On March 22, Alexey Kovalenko, a urologist at the European Medical Center, told Izvestia about the non-obvious symptoms of kidney disease. One of the possible signs may be dizziness and impaired coordination. He also attributed them to decreased attention and cognitive abilities and anemia. This may also be indicated by itching, dryness and decreased elasticity of the skin.