Parkinson’s Disease is a degenerative movement disorder resulting from the death of the dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra.
There aren’t any definitive blood tests or imaging for Parkinson’s, so it really comes down to a solid neurological examination.
Generally bradykinesia (slow movement) plus one of the other two cardinal signs
- Rigidity (cogwheel)
- Tremor (pill rolling)
The other movement signs seen in Parkinson’s
- Shuffling gait
- Mask-like expression
- Postural instability: this is tested with the “pull test” – the examiner stands behind the patient and firmly pulls the patient by the shoulders. Someone with normal postural reflexes should only need to take one step back, someone with postural instability will fall or need to take multiple steps backwards.