Parkinson’s Symptoms: Motor and Non-Motor Signs
Parkinson’s disease is most often recognized for its motor symptoms, such as tremor or stiffness. But non-motor symptoms can be just as impactful on quality of life. There are long lists of possible motor and non-motor symptoms in PD. It’s important to remember that not everyone will have all possible symptoms. The saying goes, “If you’ve met one person with PD, you’ve met one person with PD.” Symptoms, symptom intensity, and symptom progression will vary by individual.
As part of Preparing for Doctor Appointments, keeping a record with a symptom tracker can be very helpful.
This page outlines the key symptoms associated with PD.
Motor Symptoms
The hallmark signs of PD are the motor symptoms as these are generally movements we can see with our own eyes. The four cardinal motor symptoms are:
- slow movement: the medical term is “bradykinesia”
- rigidity: stiffness of the arms, legs, or neck
- tremor
- balance issues: the medical term is “postural instability”
Someone must have two of the four cardinal symptoms to receive a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.
Other motor symptoms (related to the cardinal four) include:
- walking or gait difficulty: freezing of gait, festination or shuffling, lack of arm swing
- dystonia
- speech problems: such as soft voice, also called "hypophonia"
- swallowing issues: also called "dysphagia"
Motor fluctuations or "off" times, including before or between medication doses, are also a concern.
Non-Motor Symptoms
Although PD is classified as a movement disorder, the possible non-motor symptoms are numerous. These symptoms are increasingly recognized as playing an important role in quality of life. Some common non-motor symptoms are:
- depression, anxiety, and apathy
- cognitive issues, including dementia
- constipation, gastroparesis, and other gastrointestinal problems
- fatigue
- freezing
- hallucinations and delusions (known as "psychosis")
- urinary issues
- low blood pressure (known as "orthostatic hypotension")
- sleep (including REM sleep behavior disorder or RBD)
- issues such as pain and vision changes
Best Overviews of PD
Our Good Overviews of PD page contains a list of the best overviews of PD symptoms.