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Key signs can show up ‘several years’ before(Image: FabrikaCr via Getty Images)<\/p>\nParkinson’s disease is a condition that affects the brain and gets progressively worse over time. There are many symptoms of the condition, including one that is less well-knownKey signs can show up ‘several years’ before(Image: FabrikaCr via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Parkinson’s disease manifests through numerous symptoms<\/a> – more than 40 actually – including the characteristic tremor affecting arms and hands.<\/p>\n The development and order of these symptoms varies amongst the roughly 153,000 UK inhabitants battling this incurable neurological condition<\/a>.<\/p>\n The majority of Parkinson’s patients are aged over 50, though 1% are younger. Whilst the three most prevalent symptoms chiefly affect physical mobility, there’s one less obvious symptom that can appear years ahead of the rest<\/a>.<\/p>\n The NHS<\/a> states that the main indicators of Parkinson’s include:<\/p>\n tremor \u2013 usually begins in the hand or arm and is more likely to occur when the limb is relaxed and restingslowness of movement (bradykinesia) \u2013 physical movements are much slower than normal, which can result in a distinctive slow, shuffling walk with small steps, and can make everyday tasks difficultmuscle stiffness or tension (rigidity) \u2013 this can make it difficult to move around and make facial expressions, and can result in painful muscle cramps (dystonia)<\/p>\n The illness also brings various psychological symptoms, including anxiety, depression and cognitive difficulties. For some individuals, one of the earliest warning signs of Parkinson’s is smell loss, known as anosmia.<\/p>\n The NHS has noted that this symptom “sometimes occurs several years before other symptoms develop”, including movement-related ones. Parkinson’s UK states that as many as 95% of those with the disease experience smell loss or diminishment “to some degree”, reports Surrey Live<\/a>.<\/p>\n Though it may be regarded as a “concealed” symptom, its effect is substantial for those unable to detect food aromas, potentially causing additional complications. The charity noted: “Loss of smell can affect people in different ways.<\/p>\n “We rely on our sense of smell to taste food, so reduced smell can lead to weight loss or weight gain. It can also affect your mood, relationships and overall quality of life. In addition, loss of smell can affect your safety \u2013 for example, being unable to smell food burning.<\/p>\n “It does not respond to Parkinson’s medication, so is unlikely to get better even with this treatment.”<\/p>\n Other symptoms of Parkinson’s as outlined by the NHS include:<\/p>\n balance problems – making you more likely to fall and sustain injuriesnerve pain \u2013 can cause unpleasant sensations like burning, coldness or numbnessproblems peeing \u2013 such as having to get up frequently during the night to pee or unintentionally peeing (urinary incontinence)constipationswallowing difficulties (dysphagia) \u2013 this can lead to malnutrition and dehydrationexcessive production of saliva (drooling)sleep problems (insomnia) \u2013 this can result in excessive sleepiness during the daysex problems – an inability to obtain or sustain an erection (erectile dysfunction), or difficulty becoming sexually aroused and achieving an orgasm (sexual dysfunction)dizziness, blurred vision or fainting when moving from a sitting or lying position to a standing one \u2013 caused by a sudden drop in blood pressure<\/a>excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Parkinson’s disease is a condition that affects the brain and gets progressively worse over time. There are many…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160642,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[6612,59,102,23498,1906,104,1701,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-160641","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-blood-pressure","9":"tag-gb","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-insomnia","12":"tag-mental-health","13":"tag-nhs","14":"tag-parkinsons-disease","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Geriatric](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1_Geriatric-doctor-or-geriatrician-concept-Doctor-physician-hand-on-happy-elderly-senior-patient-to-.jpeg\")
The NHS lists key symptoms(Image: Pornpak Khunatorn via Getty Images)<\/p>\n