Most people think that Parkinson’s Disease only affects a person’s ability to move. However, it impacts speech, movement and the ability to perform daily tasks. These changes usually start out slowly, but can get worse over time. This will not only affect a person’s movement but will also diminish their quality of life.

At Royal Care Neurosciences, we want to help patients and their family members understand the changes related to the disease so that they can identify the changes early and get the assistance they need.

What is Parkinson’s Disease?

Parkinson’s Disease is a progressive disease that affects the nervous system and the activities of daily living. This happens when certain nerve cells in the brain stop making dopamine. The brain relies on dopamine to control and coordinate movement.

When the levels of dopamine in the brain decrease, the brain will not be able to send the proper signals to the muscles. This will cause problems with not only movement, but also speech and everyday tasks.

Parkinson’s Disease has a wide variety of symptoms that can be categorized into two groups: motor and non-motor symptoms.

Motor Symptoms

Some typical signs of Parkinson’s disease include:

• Tremors that sometimes begin with one hand
• Muscle rigidity and or stiffness
• Slowness of movement (bradykinesia)
• Difficulties with balance and posture
• Decreased facial expressions

Non-Motor Symptoms

Some non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease include:

• Sleep problems
• Constipation
• Reduced or lost sense of smell
• Mood, including depression or anxiety
• Tiredness

Symptoms vary from person to person.

How Is Parkinson’s Disease Diagnosed?

Diagnosing Parkinson’s disease involves looking at many different possibilities in a complicated manner.

Some of the most important diagnostic features include:

• Medical history
• History of symptoms and progression
• History of movement, coordination, and reflexes
• History of response to Parkinson’s medications
• History of imaging tests like MRIs or other specialized tests to rule out other conditions in or out of the diagnosis.

Because there are no specific tests to provide a diagnosis, many observations of the diagnostic features will be required.

How Parkinson’s Disease Affects Movement

Perhaps the most obvious changes with Parkinson’s disease are movement problems. These changes are seen in a person’s gait, use of hands, and ability to balance.

• With slow movement, getting up from a chair, walking, or turning around will take much longer.
• Many tasks will require more effort than before due to the loss of automatic movement.

Parkinson Symptoms

Parkinson’s symptoms may start as simple as shaking of the body at rest, and usually affect one side of the body and spread over time.

Muscle Stiffness

• Affected muscles can make movement uncomfortable and also restrict the loss of mobility.
• These can cause the loss of the ability to perform daily activities like getting dressed and reaching for things.

Balance Problems

• As the condition becomes progressively worse, the ability to perform tasks without losing balance can be lost, and falls may become more frequent.
• Additionally, stooped postures may become present.

Walking Changes

• Walking may become slower with the development of shorter strides.
• Others may find the development of a shuffling gait or a freezing of the legs when needing to start movement.

How Parkinson’s Affects Speech

People who have Parkinson’s disease may undergo several changes that are not as apparent, like movement changes, but can still greatly affect the ways individuals communicate.

Soft or Low Voice

• Parkinson’s patients commonly will start to notice a decline in the volume of their voice.
• Some will even have a difficult time being heard over the sound of other people’s voices in a room.

Monotone Speech

• In problems with speech, the natural flow of speech with rhythm may be lost.
• This makes the speech sound non-expressive.

Slurred or Unclear Words

• Muscle rigidity can cause poor and unclear enunciation.

Difficulty Swallowing

• In some instances, the ability to eat can become compromised.
• This can possibly cause the individual to cough or choke while eating.

It’s not uncommon for people to express frustration when someone makes speech modifications. Understandably, some people may have difficulty understanding the changes. There are numerous benefits to speech therapy when it comes to improving one’s ability to communicate effectively.

Impact of Parkinson’s Disease on Daily Living

Parkinson’s Disease profoundly influences the activities of daily living. The impacts can be quite significant, and the cause may not be readily apparent.

Personal Care

• The ability to perform self-care and personal grooming may take an inordinate amount of time.
• The reason for the extended duration may be due to generalized rigidity and the slowness of the patient.

Eating and Drinking

• Eating and drinking can be quite difficult due to the presence of tremors and coordination issues.
• There can be swallowing concerns, which may potentially lead to further complications.

Work and Routine Tasks

• Patients may find the completion of tasks which involve significant fine motor activities quite difficult.
• For example, these activities can be related to written communication or the operation of a keyboard.

Emotional and social issues

• Difficulties that can arise from the need to communicate and from the changes in one’s body can have an adverse impact on one’s self-esteem.
• It is not uncommon for someone to avoid social interactions due to frustration or embarrassment.

Daily Tasks-Sleep and Energy

• Patients are often more fatigued, which results in diminished energy to perform daily activities.
• The cause of the increased fatigue may be secondary to sleep disturbances.

Impact on Daily Living from Parkinson’s Disease

• Stages of Parkinson’s Disease
• The degree or extent of the controlling symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease
• The degree to which medical management of Parkinson’s Disease is effective
• The extent to which the patient performs and engages in purposeful movement that is not related to spasticity
• The amount of emotional support and social interaction that the patient receives is paramount

Many people can continue to function in their daily living activities with the appropriate assistance and support.

Managing These Challenges

• Medications: Help improve movement and reduce symptoms.
• Physiotherapy: Used to support mobility, balance, and strength.
• Speech therapy: Helps improve voice, clarity, and communication.
• Occupational therapy: Helps with daily living skills and personal independence.
• Lifestyle changes: Activities like regular exercise, a healthy diet, and improved sleep habits may lead to improvements.

Consistent care paired with early intervention therapies will help patients sustain their independence for longer.

Conclusion

Parkinson’s disease affects a person’s speech and their ability to perform activities of daily living (ADLs), in addition to simple movement. The changes may be insidious and may be overlooked.

You cannot simply live with these effects and believe your quality of life will be unaffected.

Continuing with your daily life and adjusting to living with the disease is not an option. The effects of the disease will continue to worsen.

It is vital to grasp these effects in order to manage the disease.

At Royal Care Neurosciences, we prioritize a complete solution, and we assist the patient in every part of their journey and help them regain their independence and live a full, high-quality life.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can Parkinson’s affect speech early on?
Yes, some may experience early speech changes like softer speech.

2. Does Parkinson’s disease always have the symptom of difficulty walking?
Not always in the beginning stages, but as the disease develops, these issues almost always occur.

3. Does therapy help daily functioning in Parkinson’s disease?
Management of daily functioning issues in Parkinson’s disease is possible and is greatly aided by therapies including physiotherapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy.