KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Parkinson's is a disorder that affects more than 10 million people across the world. The disorder can develop slowly over several years, but it ends up being debilitating.
It affects areas of the brain that produce dopamine, a chemical responsible for managing mood, sleep and even balance. By the time people start showing symptoms of Parkinson's, experts say they could have lost up to 70% of the dopamine in their brains.
"Years before your first motor symptom, you start to notice vague symptoms that you don't know what to associate with," said Shadi Barbu, a neurologist at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. "It can be anxiety, you could be acting out your dreams and talking in your sleep. You could lose your sense of smell."
One of the major symptoms doctors look for in possible Parkinson's cases is "shaking at rest." Hands or even chins may shake without people realizing it. They also look for slowness in movements, since it can be a sign of the disorder affecting fine motor skills. They also look for abnormal stiffness.
"It's never too late," What's kind of sad right now is that we don't have a cure, or at least a medication, to slow progression. So we're using all our medications to treat symptoms."
UT Medical Center will host their annual Parkinson's Disease Symposium, where experts will discuss the disorder in more detail, on October 8th. Officials said that this year's event will be held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.