There's no cure for this progressive movement disorder, but treatments can help significantly improve your symptoms.
Parkinson's disease is a progressive disorder that affects the nervous system and the parts of the body controlled by the nerves. Symptoms start slowly. The first symptom may be a barely noticeable tremor in just one hand. Tremors are common, but the disorder may also cause stiffness or slowing of movement.
In the early stages of Parkinson's disease, your face may show little or no expression. Your arms may not swing when you walk. Your speech may become soft or slurred. Parkinson's disease symptoms worsen as your condition progresses over time.
Although Parkinson's disease can't be cured, medications might significantly improve your symptoms. Occasionally, your health care provider may suggest surgery to regulate certain regions of your brain and improve your symptoms.
Parkinson's disease symptoms can be different for everyone. Early symptoms may be mild and go unnoticed. Symptoms often begin on one side of the body and usually remain worse on that side, even after symptoms begin to affect the limbs on both sides.
Parkinson's symptoms may include:
See a health care professional if you have any of the symptoms associated with Parkinson's disease — not only to diagnose your condition but also to rule out other causes for your symptoms.
In Parkinson's disease, certain nerve cells called neurons in the brain gradually break down or die. Many of the symptoms of Parkinson's are due to a loss of neurons that produce a chemical messenger in your brain called dopamine. When dopamine levels decrease, it causes irregular brain activity, leading to problems with movement and other symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
The cause of Parkinson's disease is unknown, but several factors appear to play a role, including:
Genes. Researchers have identified specific genetic changes that can cause Parkinson's disease. But these are uncommon except in rare cases with many family members affected by Parkinson's disease.
However, certain gene variations appear to increase the risk of Parkinson's disease but with a relatively small risk of Parkinson's disease for each of these genetic markers.
Researchers also have noted that many changes occur in the brains of people with Parkinson's disease, although it's not clear why these changes occur. These changes include:
Risk factors for Parkinson's disease include:
Parkinson's disease is often accompanied by these additional problems, which may be treatable:
Depression and emotional changes. You may experience depression, sometimes in the very early stages. Receiving treatment for depression can make it easier to handle the other challenges of Parkinson's disease.
You also may experience other emotional changes, such as fear, anxiety or loss of motivation. Your health care team may give you medicine to treat these symptoms.
Sleep problems and sleep disorders. People with Parkinson's disease often have sleep problems, including waking up frequently throughout the night, waking up early or falling asleep during the day.
People also may experience rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, which involves acting out dreams. Medicines may improve your sleep.
You may also experience:
Because the cause of Parkinson's is unknown, there are no proven ways to prevent the disease.
Some research has shown that regular aerobic exercise might reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease.
Some other research has shown that people who consume caffeine — which is found in coffee, tea and cola — get Parkinson's disease less often than those who don't drink it. Green tea also is related to a reduced risk of developing Parkinson's disease. However, it is still not known whether caffeine protects against getting Parkinson's or is related in some other way. Currently there is not enough evidence to suggest that drinking caffeinated beverages protects against Parkinson's.
Currently, there isn't a specific test to diagnose Parkinson's disease. A diagnosis is made by a doctor trained in nervous system conditions, known as a neurologist. A diagnosis of Parkinson's is based on your medical history, a review of your symptoms, and a neurological and physical exam.
A member of your health care team may suggest a specific single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) scan called a dopamine transporter (DAT) scan. Although this can help support the suspicion that you have Parkinson's disease, it is your symptoms and results of a neurological exam that ultimately determine the correct diagnosis. Most people do not require a DAT scan.
Your care team may order lab tests, such as blood tests, to rule out other conditions that may be causing your symptoms.
Imaging tests — such as an MRI, ultrasound of the brain and PET scans — also may be used to help rule out other disorders. Imaging tests aren't particularly helpful for diagnosing Parkinson's disease.
In addition to examining you, a member of your health care team may give you carbidopa-levodopa (Rytary, Sinemet, others), a Parkinson's disease medicine. You must be given a sufficient dose to show the benefit, as getting low doses for a day or two isn't reliable. Significant improvement with this medicine will often confirm your diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.
Sometimes it takes time to diagnose Parkinson's disease. Health care professionals may recommend regular follow-up appointments with neurologists trained in movement disorders to evaluate your condition and symptoms over time and diagnose Parkinson's disease.
However, a new test may be on the horizon. Researchers are studying a Parkinson's test that can detect the disease before symptoms begin. The test is called an alpha-synuclein seed amplification assay. In a 2023 study, researchers tested the spinal fluid of more than 1,000 people to look for clumps of the protein alpha-synuclein. Alpha-synuclein is found in Lewy bodies. It forms clumps that the body can't break down. The clumps spread and damage brain cells.
Alpha-synuclein clumps are a hallmark sign of Parkinson's disease. The test accurately identified people with Parkinson's disease 87.7% of the time. The test also was highly sensitive for detecting people at risk of Parkinson's disease.
This study of the alpha-synuclein seed amplification assay was the largest so far. Some researchers say the study may be a game changer for Parkinson's disease diagnosis, research and treatment trials. But larger studies are needed. There's hope among researchers that in the future, the test could be done using blood samples rather than spinal fluid.
Parkinson's disease can't be cured, but medicines can help control the symptoms, often dramatically. In some more advanced cases, surgery may be advised.
Your health care team also may recommend lifestyle changes, especially ongoing aerobic exercise. In some cases, physical therapy that focuses on balance and stretching is important. A speech-language pathologist may help improve speech problems.
Medicines may help you manage problems with walking, movement and tremor. These medicines increase or substitute for dopamine.
People with Parkinson's disease have low levels of brain dopamine. However, dopamine can't be given directly because it can't enter the brain.
You may have significant improvement of your symptoms after beginning Parkinson's disease treatment. Over time, however, the benefits of medicines frequently diminish or become less consistent. You can usually still control your symptoms well.
Medicines your care team may prescribe include:
Carbidopa-levodopa (Rytary, Sinemet, Duopa, others). Levodopa, the most effective Parkinson's disease medicine, is a natural chemical that passes into the brain and is converted to dopamine.
Levodopa is combined with carbidopa (Lodosyn), which protects levodopa from early conversion to dopamine outside the brain. This prevents or lessens side effects such as nausea.
Side effects may include nausea or lightheadedness when you stand, called orthostatic hypotension.
After years, as your disease progresses, the benefit from levodopa may lessen, with a tendency to wax and wane, also called "wearing off."
Also, you may experience involuntary movements known as dyskinesia after taking higher doses of levodopa. Your care team may lessen your dose or adjust the times of your doses to control these effects.
Unless told otherwise by your health care team, carbidopa-levodopa is best taken on an empty stomach if you have advanced Parkinson's disease.
Carbidopa-levodopa infusion. Duopa is a brand-name medicine combining carbidopa and levodopa. However, it's administered through a feeding tube that delivers the medicine in a gel form directly to the small intestine.
Duopa is for patients with more-advanced Parkinson's who still respond to carbidopa-levodopa but who have a lot of fluctuations in their response. Because Duopa is continually infused, blood levels of the two medicines remain constant.
Placement of the tube requires a small surgical procedure. Risks associated with having the tube include the tube falling out or infections at the infusion site.
Dopamine agonists. Unlike levodopa, dopamine agonists don't change into dopamine. Instead, they mimic dopamine effects in the brain.
Dopamine agonists aren't as effective as levodopa in treating symptoms. However, they last longer and may be used with levodopa to smooth the sometimes off-and-on effect of levodopa.
Dopamine agonists include pramipexole (Mirapex ER) and rotigotine (Neupro), which is given as a patch. Apomorphine (Apokyn) is a short-acting dopamine agonist shot used for quick relief.
Some of the side effects of dopamine agonists are like the side effects of carbidopa-levodopa. But they also can include hallucinations, sleepiness and compulsive behaviors such as hypersexuality, gambling and eating. If you're taking these medicines and you behave in a way that's out of character for you, talk to your health care team.
Monoamine oxidase B (MAO B) inhibitors. These medicines include selegiline (Zelapar), rasagiline (Azilect) and safinamide (Xadago). They help prevent the breakdown of brain dopamine by inhibiting the brain enzyme monoamine oxidase B (MAO B). This enzyme breaks down brain dopamine. Selegiline given with levodopa may help prevent wearing off.
Side effects of MAO B inhibitors may include headaches, nausea or insomnia. When added to carbidopa-levodopa, these medicines increase the risk of hallucinations.
These medicines are not often used in combination with most antidepressants or certain pain medicines due to potentially serious but rare reactions. Check with your health care team before taking any additional medicines with an MAO B inhibitor.
Catechol O-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitors. Entacapone (Comtan) and opicapone (Ongentys) are the primary medicines from this class. This medicine mildly prolongs the effect of levodopa therapy by blocking an enzyme that breaks down dopamine.
Side effects, including an increased risk of involuntary movements called dyskinesia, mainly result from an enhanced levodopa effect. Other side effects include diarrhea, nausea or vomiting.
Tolcapone (Tasmar) is another COMT inhibitor that is rarely prescribed due to a risk of serious liver damage and liver failure.
Anticholinergics. These medicines were used for many years to help control the tremor associated with Parkinson's disease. Several anticholinergic medicines are available, including benztropine (Cogentin) or trihexyphenidyl.
However, their modest benefits are often offset by side effects such as impaired memory, confusion, hallucinations, constipation, dry mouth and impaired urination.
Amantadine. Health care professionals may prescribe amantadine (Gocovri) alone to provide short-term relief of symptoms of mild, early-stage Parkinson's disease. It also may be given with carbidopa-levodopa therapy during the later stages of Parkinson's disease to control involuntary movements called dyskinesia induced by carbidopa-levodopa.
Side effects may include a change in skin color, ankle swelling or hallucinations.
Deep brain stimulation. In deep brain stimulation (DBS), surgeons implant electrodes into a specific part of the brain. The electrodes are connected to a generator implanted in the chest near the collarbone. The generator sends electrical pulses to the brain and may reduce Parkinson's disease symptoms.
Your health care team may adjust your settings as necessary to treat your condition. Surgery involves risks, including infections, stroke or brain hemorrhage. Some people experience problems with the DBS system or have complications due to stimulation. A member of your health care team may need to adjust or replace some parts of the system.
Deep brain stimulation is most often offered to people with advanced Parkinson's disease who have unstable responses to levodopa. DBS can stabilize medicine fluctuations, reduce or halt involuntary movements called dyskinesia, reduce tremor, reduce rigidity, and improve movements.
DBS is effective for controlling changing responses to levodopa or for controlling dyskinesia that doesn't improve with medicine adjustments.
However, DBS isn't helpful for problems that don't respond to levodopa therapy apart from tremor. Tremor may be controlled by DBS even if the tremor isn't very responsive to levodopa.
Although DBS may provide sustained benefit for Parkinson's symptoms, it doesn't keep Parkinson's disease from progressing.
MRI-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) is a minimally invasive treatment that has helped some people with Parkinson's disease manage tremors. Ultrasound is guided by an MRI to the area in the brain where the tremors start. The ultrasound waves are at a very high temperature and burn areas that are contributing to the tremors.
Deep brain stimulation involves implanting an electrode deep within the brain. The amount of stimulation delivered by the electrode is controlled by a pacemaker-like device placed under the skin in the chest. A wire that travels under the skin connects the device to the electrode.
You'll need to work closely with your health care team to find a Parkinson's treatment plan that offers you the greatest relief from symptoms with the fewest side effects. Certain medicines can make your symptoms worse, so please discuss with your care team any medicines you currently take.
Certain lifestyle changes also may help make living with Parkinson's disease easier.
While no food or combination of foods has been proved to help in Parkinson's disease, some foods may help ease some of the symptoms. For example, eating foods high in fiber and drinking plenty of fluids can help prevent constipation that is common in Parkinson's disease.
A balanced diet also provides nutrients, such as omega-3 fatty acids, that might be beneficial for people with Parkinson's disease.
Exercising may increase your muscle strength, flexibility and balance. Exercise also can improve your well-being and reduce depression or anxiety.
Your health care team may suggest that you work with a physical therapist to learn an exercise program that works for you. You also may try exercises such as walking, swimming, gardening, dancing, water aerobics or stretching.
Parkinson's disease can disturb your sense of balance, making it difficult to walk with your usual gait. Exercise may improve your balance. These suggestions also may help:
In the later stages of the disease, you may fall more easily. In fact, you may be thrown off balance by just a small push or bump. The following suggestions may help:
Daily living activities — such as dressing, eating, bathing and writing — can be difficult for people with Parkinson's disease. An occupational therapist can show you techniques that make daily life easier.
If you are having trouble talking, a speech therapist may be able to help. Many people with Parkinson's disease have speech difficulties such as a slow, weak voice, trouble with consonants, slurred speech, a low voice that has a monotone with little expression, and inappropriate silences. A speech therapist may be able to help with these problems.
Supportive therapies can help ease some of the symptoms and complications of Parkinson's disease, such as pain, fatigue and depression. When performed in combination with your treatments, these therapies might improve your quality of life:
Tai chi. An ancient form of Chinese exercise, tai chi uses slow, flowing motions that may improve flexibility, balance and muscle strength. Tai chi also may help prevent falls. Several forms of tai chi are tailored for people of any age or physical condition.
A study showed that tai chi may improve the balance of people with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease more than stretching and resistance training do.
Living with any chronic illness can be difficult, and it's not uncommon to feel angry, depressed or discouraged at times. Parkinson's disease can be profoundly frustrating as walking, talking and even eating become more difficult and time-consuming.
Depression is common in people with Parkinson's disease. But antidepressant medicines can help ease the symptoms of depression, so talk with your health care team if you're feeling persistently sad or hopeless.
Although friends and family can be your best allies, the understanding of people who know what you're going through can be especially helpful. Support groups aren't for everyone. However, for many people with Parkinson's disease and their families, a support group can be a good resource for practical information about Parkinson's disease.
Also, groups offer a place for you to find people who are going through similar situations and can support you.
Trying to maintain some of your usual activities may be helpful. Aim to do as many things as possible that you could do before the onset of Parkinson's disease. Focus on the present and try to maintain a positive attitude.
To learn about support groups in your community, talk to your health care team, a Parkinson's disease social worker or a local public health nurse. Or contact the Parkinson's Foundation or the American Parkinson Disease Association.
You and your family also may benefit from talking to a mental health professional, such as a psychologist or social worker trained in working with people who have chronic conditions.
You're likely to first see a health care professional. You may then be referred to a doctor trained in nervous system disorders, called a neurologist.
Because there's often a lot to discuss, it's a good idea to prepare for your appointment. Here's some information to help you get ready for your appointment.
Your time with your care team is limited, so preparing a list of questions ahead of time will help you make the most of your time together. For Parkinson's disease, some basic questions to ask include:
In addition to the questions that you've prepared to ask your care team, don't hesitate to ask questions that occur to you during your appointment.
Your health care team is likely to ask you a several questions. Being ready to answer them may reserve time to go over any points you want to spend more time on. You may be asked: