Parkinson Disease

Only a postmortem examination provides conclusive evidence of Parkinsonism, while a live clinical neurological examination may present difficulties in diagnosis. Certain symptoms readily show the presence of the disease, such as tremor, slow body movements, and the inability to perform joint motor activities. There are, however, other conditions that can be mistaken for Parkinsonism because they are also characterized by the tremor syndrome and certain other symptoms.

While the exact cause of Parkinsonism can only be determined at autopsy, a clinical diagnosis when the patient is still alive allows doctors to prescribe the most effective treatment. The physician begins a diagnosis with the patient's general medical history along with a careful examination. In the absence of certain symptoms of the disease, an experienced physician may be able to exclude Parkinson disease and search for other causes of neurological impairment, such as tumors of the brain, especially in the cerebellum which controls balance. A CAT scan is used to determine the presence or absence of brain tumors. The appearance of tremor is carefully studied to determine whether or not it qualifies as a symptom of Parkinsonism. New diagnostic methods allow physicians to target the affected brain areas precisely. An analysis of cerebrospinal fluid along with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can reveal damage to areas of the brain like the substantia nigra. An increase in lipid (fat) oxidation in the substantia nigra suggests that free radicals are damaging nerve cells producing dopamine. If that is the case, antioxidants and scavengers that destroy free radicals may improve the symptoms.