Dr. Esteban Kosak 
Parkinson disease affects approximately 1% of the population older than 60 years.
Parkinson’s disease is a widespread neurologic condition. It is the second most common neurodegenerative disease owing that Alzheimer’s disease is the first.
The estimation is that there are 14 cases per 100,000 people. However, it has a close link to aging. Therefore, when it comes to specifically this older population, there are approximately 160 cases per 100,000 people older than 60 years.
So, it is no surprise that patients usually develop this disease in the sixth decade of life. Despite this, it is possible to have it at a younger age, in the forties, although not that common.
The disease affects a part of the brain called substantia nigra, which has cells full of a particular neurotransmitter, dopamine. These cells are essential for the control of movement in the body. In this condition, there is a progressive loss of these specific brain cells.
Therefore, the loss of them will end in movement disorders, although Parkinson’s disease affects the whole body thoroughly, so it causes other symptoms that have nothing to do with movement like slowness in thinking.
Importantly, the symptoms that do not involve movement are the ones that appear early in the disease. So, they help identify patients at high risk of developing it in the future.
Also, it is more to worry that medical treatment can slow but not stop this condition. Sadly, Parkinson’s disease will cause the patients to have a progressive disability until severe impairments in movement appear beside the affection of other spheres in the body.
Hence, its early diagnosis is essential for starting medical management. Basically, the treatment aids the patient in coping with every day disabling symptoms.
This Parkinson’s disease symptoms checker is a tool that gathers the most important signs, symptoms, and risk factors for this condition.
From several years of research, doctors have found which elements are in relation to developing this condition. Besides the strong genetic component, there are many others concerning the environment of the patient that influences Parkinson’s disease development.
This tool will help anybody to find out the likelihood of having this disease, depending on its symptoms and risk factors. And, the most important is that it is free and would only take a few minutes.
- Question of
Are you a male?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Are you over 60 years?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Are you over 75 years?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Any of your family members have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have been diagnosed with melanoma? (A skin cancer)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you smoke cigarettes?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you drink coffee daily (with caffeine)?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have been diagnosed with gout or hyperuricemia? (high uric acid in the blood)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you consume daily at least two cups of green or black tea?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you exercise at least 30 minutes per day for five days a week?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you take ibuprofen at least two times per week?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Is your weekly diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and fish? (at least five times the first two and three the latter)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you are regularly exposed to pesticides?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you consume right now methamphetamine, or did it in the past?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Did you have in the last 12 months a trauma in the head?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have been hospitalized due to alcohol use disorder? (alcohol misuse)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have tremors in one of your hands while at rest?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Does the tremor is in just one arm or side of the body?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Does the tremor is in the whole body or both sides of it? (both arms, or the four extremities)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you feel rigidity in your upper extremities, like they are difficult to move?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Does this last symptom happen just in the mornings?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Does the movement of your upper arms are slower than before?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Does these symptoms have been happening for months or years?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you are having trouble lately with your body balance? (this situation can manifest, for example, as frequent falls)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Is it more difficult for your face to change with facial expressions typical of joy or laugh, for example? (your face looks now like if you were always upset with no expression at all)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Are you having sleep problems?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Are you having trouble with your typical intestinal habit? (for example, you used to go every day in the morning to the bathroom, and now you are finding difficulty to defecate, so it is every two or three days or just less than you used to?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
For males, are you having a problem with your normal penis erection?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Are you having slowness in thinking? (you are not as fast answering and doing things like some months ago)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Are you feeling depressed or not want to do anything at all?
- Yes
- No
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