The Different Stages of Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease that goes through certain stages. If your dear ones are suffering from PD, the medical physician will inform you about the stages after examining the progress scale of the disease.

 Stages of the disease:

• Stage 1 – It is the early stage involving one side of the body and usually the symptoms are mild which cannot be recognized even by the doctor. The signs of the disease usually observed in this stage of PD are tremor in one hand, feeling stiffness in one hand or leg. You feel clumsy while walking or working as one hand or leg isn’t corelating with the other. Face expressions may change as one side of the face seems to be stiff. The effect is observed on one side of the body and is called as unilateral involvement.

• Stage 2 – This stage of PD is in progressive phase, thus is different from Stage 1 as both sides of the body seem to be affected. It is known as bilateral involvement in medical terms. The main symptoms indicated by the early stages of the disease is problem in speaking clearly, face expressions changing as the facial muscles become stiff, activities done in slow pace, stiffness of muscles all over and unable to do spontaneous movement.

• Stage 3 – All the aggressive PD symptoms can be observed as the person is unable to move correctly and can fall down. This stage is a clear indication of PD thus the effective treatment begins. The positive fact is that the patient is still able to continue their daily activities at a slow pace.

• Stage 4 – In this phase, the person is still able to move, however needs support system. They need full time assistance to do their daily activities. It is the progressive stage leading to more immobility, thus along with medication, physiotherapy treatment is also required.

• Stage Five – the person is facing the worse condition of PD. They are incapable of getting up from bed without any assistance. They may fall while standing even for a second or feel unable to take a step to walk. The worst symptom is that the patient may hallucinate or feel delusional.

The progress of Parkinsons disease may vary from person to person. Even the symptoms aren’t same thus diagnosing the ailment is little difficult in early stages. However, with the right treatment, you are sure to evade the symptoms of the disease.