(Ivanhoe Newswire) – For many people with Parkinson’s disease, obvious symptoms such as problems with motor functions don’t appear until the person is well into adulthood. However, a new study has found that issues like drooling, anxiety, and constipation may be actually be very early non-motor symptoms of the movement disease. 

 

To come to this conclusion, researchers questioned 159 newly diagnosed Parkinson’s patients and 99 participants without the disease whether they had experienced any of 30 different non-motor symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease. 

 

Out of all of the participants diagnosed with Parkinson’s, 56% had experienced excessive saliva or drooling, 42% had constipation, and 43% said they had anxiety problems. 

 

Compared to the people who do not have Parkinson’s disease, these percentages were very high. In the group of healthy participants only 6% had problems with drooling, 7% had constipation, and 10% admitted to having anxiety. 

"These results show that Parkinson's affects many systems in the body, even in its earliest stages," Tien K. Khoo, Ph.D., a researcher from Newcastle University in the United Kingdom was quoted as saying. 

 

Now that drooling and other problems have been linked to early stages of Parkinson’s disease, individuals with the disease who have these issues can seek help. 

 

“Often these symptoms affect people's quality of life just as much if not more than the movement problems that come with the disease. Both doctors and patients need to bring these symptoms up and consider available treatments," Khoo was quoted as saying. 

 

Treatments that could offer relief to many experiencing these problems on a weekly or even daily basis. 

 

Source: Neurology, 15 January 2013

 

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