How does Parkinson’s Disease get diagnosed?

PD is a complicated disease and diagnosing it is very complex and sometimes challenging, especially in the early stages of the disease. There is not a specific blood test of biological marker that can be used to diagnose the disease. Researchers are working on this now and the hope is that one day there will be a diagnostic test! Stay tuned!

Because there is not a specific test we can use to diagnose the disease, diagnosis must be made by a trained clinician- usually a neurologist. The neurologist takes a thorough medical history and reviews the signs and symptoms to make a differential diagnosis. A differential diagnosis basically means the doctor rules out the possibility that the signs and symptoms could be explained by something else. The doctor rules out the possibility that the presenting symptoms are not caused by another disease process or even by medications a person is taking (it can happen!) Once other explanations are ruled out, the person can start a course of treatment for PD and see if it helps. If it helps, that’s a pretty reliable indicator that the person has PD.

 So what are these signs and symptoms that the doctor uses to make his/her differential diagnosis? Well, remember how PD is largely movement related? So these signs and symptoms used for diagnosis are mostly movement related too. To get the diagnosis of Parkinson’s the person needs to meet a symptom criteria. They must have bradykinesia (slowed movement) and either tremor or rigidity or both. There are more signs and symptoms of PD that are NOT movement related and sometimes they show up before the movement problems. Often they are hard to detect though. This video will help you understand some of the non-movement related symptoms doctors use to diagnose PD:

10 key non-movement symptoms of Parkinson's that everybody ought to know about

Now you know the basics of how a diagnosis of PD is made. It is important to be aware of the subtle indicators and note movement related problems but also the non-movement ones because early detection of PD can help in the treatment course!

Check out more resources here:

http://www.parkinson.org/Parkinson-s-Disease/Diagnosis

http://www.pdf.org/en/diagnosis

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/parkinsons-disease/basics/tests-diagnosis/con-20028488

References:

Chou, K. (2014). Diagnosis of parkinson's disease. UptoDate. Retrieved from http://www-uptodate-com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/contents/diagnosis-of-parkinson-disease?source=search_result&search=diagnosis+parkinson%27s+disease&selectedTitle=1~150

Giuffre, K. (2010, December 31). 10 key non-movement symptoms of Parkinson's that everybody ought to know about. Youtube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h78x80xAMEk

Parkinson's Disease- tests and diagnosis. The Mayo Clinic. Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/parkinsons-disease/basics/tests-diagnosis/con-20028488