Parkinson's Diagnosis

23 Sep, 2007 Parkinson's Diagnosis

Diagnosing Parkinson’s Disease is, as with any other condition, a complex and uncertain process. With symptoms very similar to that of other neurological disorders, including a variety of different forms of the disease itself, the Parkinson’s diagnosis requires an physician experienced in dealing with the condition first hand, and an ability to differentiate between the symptoms set synonymous with this and other conditions. Some related conditions take their course very rapidly, whereas some take time to develop.
Similarly, some conditions are always present, whilst some are acute, therefore it is essential for the initiation of treatment that patients are diagnosed effectively and correctly. The patient may require observation for a period of time before proper Parkinson’s diagnosis can be made, as there are no laboratory tests which can indicate its presence for certain.
The doctor will firstly begin his patient evaluation by looking at his medical history and conducting a general health check to see if there are any obvious signs of this, or any other condition in the past, or at present. A neurological test can be conducted to assess the range of movement of the patient, and highlight any problems which may arise and point towards the presence of Parkinson’s.Making adjustments to your living area will become necessary as time goes on and there are a number of things you can do to make life easier for a person with Parkinson’s disease. For example, grab bars can be fitted around the house and in the bathroom, a sit-down shower can be fitted instead of the regular bath, you can lengthen the legs of chairs so that it is easier to go from sitting to standing and vice versa, you can change door and cupboard handles to make them easier to grasp and change the cutlery to a design which is more comfortable to hold. In fact there are hundreds of little adjustments you can make to your home to make life easier and the longer you live with a Parkinson’s sufferer the more ingenious ways you will think of to improve their quality of life.
Buying clothes with Velcro or zips will help a Parkinson’s disease sufferer to remain independent for longer. As the disease progresses and intricate hand movements become more difficult, simple things like doing up buttons can become a chore and very frustrating for both the sufferer and the loved one as they watch the struggle. Similarly, try finding shoes that simply slip on or that have Velcro strips as apposed to laces.
There are many ways in which lifestyle can be changed to help a person with Parkinson’s disease lead a normal and active life. Some changes are very minor whereas some are quite an upheaval, for example having the bathroom completely modified. Even so any change to benefit the sufferer is a change well made.