Parkinson's disease is a disorder in which a portion of your brain deteriorates, leading to increasingly severe symptoms over time. Although muscular control, balance, and movement are the most well-known impacts of this disorder, it can also have a variety of additional repercussions on your senses, cognitive function, mental health, and more.

The average age at which Parkinson's disease begins to appear is 60 years old, and the chance of having the condition naturally rises with age.

Stages of Parkinson’s disease

Healthcare professionals now mainly use the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) to categorise this illness. The MDS-UPDRS looks at four aspects of your Parkinson's disease:

Part 1: Non-motor aspects of experiences of daily living. Non-motor (non-movement) symptoms such as dementia, depression, anxiety, and other mental health and ability-related problems are covered in this section.

Part 2: Motor aspects of experiences of daily living. Speaking, eating, chewing, swallowing, dressing, and bathing yourself if you have tremors are all included.

Part 3: Motor examination. The criteria assess effects based on speech patterns, facial expressions, stiffness and rigidity, gait and walking speed, balance, movement speed, tremors, etc.

Part 4: Motor complications. In this part, a healthcare professional will assess the extent to which Parkinson's disease symptoms are impacting your life.