![\"Dr](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5132772_4_articleinlinemobile_Dr_Timothy_Lynch.jpeg\" "\\"Dr")
Dr Timothy Lynch is a Parkinson specialist, and says the disease can affect the whole body<\/p>\nParkinson’s disease affects one to two in every 1,000 people. Some 18,000 in Ireland have the neurodegenerative condition. <\/p>\n
A tremor is the symptom most people associate with Parkinson\u2019s. But other warning signs can appear years earlier.<\/p>\n
Dr Tim Lynch is a professor of neurology, a consultant neurologist at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital in Dublin, and a Parkinson\u2019s specialist. He says the disease is one that \u201ccan affect the whole body, resulting in a wide range of symptoms, not just tremors\u201d.<\/p>\n
Dr Timothy Lynch is a Parkinson specialist, and says the disease can affect the whole body<\/p>\n
Parkinson\u2019s is a progressive disorder that affects a part of the brain called the substantia nigra. This part of the brain produces dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in movement and co-ordination.<\/p>\n
Degeneration of the substantia nigra reduces dopamine output, which can lead to a range of symptoms, including impairments in movement (motor symptoms). The classic one is a tremor.<\/p>\n
\u201cA tremor is an uncontrollable, rhythmic shaking of a part of the body that typically occurs when someone is at rest,\u201d says Lynch. \u201cFor example, there may be no shaking in someone\u2019s hand when they hold out a newspaper to read it, but the tremor will emerge after a moment or two.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can also be exacerbated at times of heightened emotion, fatigue, or stress.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Dr](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5132775_4_articleinlinemobile_Dr_Anhar_Hassan.jpg\" "\\"Dr")
Dr Anhar Hassan specialises in Parkinson’s at Beacon Hospital, Dublin, and says that not all tremors are caused by Parkinson’s<\/p>\n
Prof Anhar Hassan is a consultant neurologist at Beacon Hospital, Dublin, where she specialises in Parkinson\u2019s. She says that while resting tremors are the main symptom, about 30% of people don\u2019t get them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are also people with tremors that aren\u2019t caused by Parkinson\u2019s \u2014 they can be a symptom of other neurological conditions or be caused by certain medications.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other motor symptoms of Parkinson\u2019s include slowness of movement, muscle stiffness, and balance issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople with Parkinson\u2019s can also experience freezing of gait, which happens when they start moving or turning and their foot gets stuck in place,\u201d says Lynch.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn some cases, they can also develop rounded shoulders or a stooped posture.\u201d<\/p>\n
These wide-ranging motor symptoms are why Parkinson\u2019s is known as a movement disorder.<\/p>\n
However, there can also be non-motor symptoms, which can show up long before tremors, slowness, or stiffness.<\/p>\n
![\"Anosmia,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5132778_4_articleinlinemobile_Copy_20of_20iStock-1336232848_1_.jpg\" "\\"Anosmia,")
Anosmia, the loss of sense of smell, occurs in around 90% of people with Parkinson\u2019s in the 10 years prior to diagnosis<\/p>\n
There are other causes for the loss of a sense of smell. It can be a temporary side-effect of a cold, an after-effect of covid, or the result of a head trauma, such as concussion.<\/p>\n
Lynch says that unexplained cases are often recruited to studies to \u201csee if they go on to develop Parkinson\u2019s and to try to understand what treatments might be developed to delay the onset of the disease\u201d.<\/p>\n