A Deeper Look into the Non-Motor Symptoms of Parkinson's Disease

Lately, researchers have been able to better understand the many intricacies that come with certain health conditions, which has resulted in safer and more efficient treatment options for patients.  While this may be the case today, researchers continue to unravel various characteristics for certain health problems that still have yet to be fully explored.

One of these disorders is Parkinson's disease. While researchers understand the most common symptoms associated with the neurodegenerative disease, there are still a lot of symptoms that many are wary about. Today, most understand the disorder as one in which the affected patient is unable to control their own physical movements, but a variety of other non-motor type symptoms have been identified by medical professionals. These symptoms are still being understood. 

With these discoveries, doctors, patients, and their loved ones are better able to understand all of the important experiences that may come with diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease.  Because of this, doctors are better able to recommend proper treatment plans. Some of the symptoms that can occur with the disorder may require more intensive care, including the use of a nursing home, once symptoms of the disease become severe. 

We have gathered just a few of the most common non-motor symptoms in order to understand further.

What are the non-motor symptoms associated with Parkinson’s?

Hallucinations

As is the case with many diseases and other health conditions, symptoms that are commonly tied to Parkinson’s disease can differ from one patient to another.  This being said, some of the non-motor symptoms may exist in a fraction of the entire population of patients diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.  One non-motor symptom that many may not experience is hallucinations. With hallucinations, patients will subsequently witness things that are not in fact real. This can apply to both visual and auditory (hearing) experiences for patients, and can make the disorder that much more difficult for the affected patient.

Delusions

Another notable non-motor symptom tied to Parkinson’s includes delusions.  Delusions can be described as incorrect beliefs that a patient may have about a certain scenario. In the case of Parkinson's disease, these delusions will often tend towards paranoia-type delusions. An example of such an experience with affected patients could be where a patient believes that something was stolen from them, when in reality, this didn't happen and could not be further away from the truth.  One of the most common types of delusions for Parkinson’s disease patients are along the lines of the belief that one’s spouse is committing adultery.  With the progression of a symptom such as this, the dynamics between spouses and other loved ones can become harder to handle.

Read on to learn more about the non-motor symptoms that are associated with Parkinson's disease.