Fareham and Gosport and Districts Branch
Fareham and Gosport and Districts Branch
About Parkinson’s
Parkinson’s is a progressive neurological condition.
People with Parkinson’s don’t have enough of a chemical called dopamine because some nerve cells in their brain have died. Without dopamine people can find that their movements become slower so it takes longer to do things. The loss of nerve cells in the brain causes the symptoms of Parkinson’s to appear.
There’s currently no cure for Parkinson’s and we don’t yet know why people get the condition.
Parkinson’s doesn’t directly cause people to die, but symptoms do get worse over time.
How many people have Parkinson’s?
One person in every 500 has Parkinson’s. That’s about 127,000 people in the UK. Most people who get Parkinson’s are aged 50 or over but younger people can get it too.
What are the symptoms?
The main symptoms of Parkinson’s are tremor, rigidity and slowness of movement.
As well as affecting movement, people with Parkinson’s can find that other issues, such as tiredness, pain, depression and constipation, can have an impact on their day-to-day lives. The symptoms someone has and how quickly the condition develops will differ from one person to the next.
The symptoms can be controlled using a combination of drugs, therapies and occasionally surgery.
As Parkinson’s progresses, an increased amount of care and support may be required, although many people maintain a good quality of life with limited care or treatment.
A leaflet with more information is available from Parkinson’s UK: Parkinson’s UK Information Leaflet
Newly diagnosed?
The Parkinson’s UK main website has a wealth of material on it covering all aspects of Parkinson’s. We recommend you start here: Parkinson’s Information and Support.
Next: Carer’s Support