Why is Parkinson's Disease Difficult to Diagnose?

While Parkinson's disease has very distinctive features, it is rather a difficult disease to identify, particularly while it is in its early stages. Unfortunately there are no precise tests, which doctors can do to establish an exact diagnosis of Parkinson's disease and regrettably especially in its early stages it might be mistaken for other diseases. If and when this happens, it delays or prevents the appropriate action being administered in the quickest feasible time.

The trouble with diagnosing Parkinson's disease accurately is just that the symptoms are not always as clear as doctors would like them to be, Actually there are suggestions that up to 25% of those people presently being treated for Parkinson's disease might have been wrongly diagnosed and are thus getting inappropriate treatment.

Generally patients that are suspected of suffering from Parkinson's disease are given tests to guarantee they are certainly not suffering from an illness that can be diagnosed using common methods such as CT scanning, urine sampling X-ray and blood tests etc. However just because these tests may have an inconclusive answer, it doesn't always mean the person is definitely suffering from Parkinson's disease. Regrettably some doctors think this is the case, and will automatically offer a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.

Tests that can be carried out to test for Parkinson's disease involve systematic neurological assessments that comprise testing the person's reflexes, balance, muscle strength walk and common movement. Because there are a range of neurological disorders that have similar characteristics to Parkinson's disease, it's not very surprising that Parkinson's disease is so regularly misdiagnosed. If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, it doesn't always hurt to ask your doctor for a second opinion or even better to request to be referred to a physician who specialises in this kind of disease.

An early accurate diagnosis of Parkinson's disease is normally the key to the sufferer being able to preserve their independence and a decent quality of life for fairly a long time.

Some neurological conditions that are regularly confused with Parkinson's disease include: -

Multiple system atrophy

Supranuclear palsy

Benign Essential Tremor

Multiple Sclerosis

Huntington's disease

Striato-Nigral Degeneration

Brain tumour

Remaining as independent as feasible is vital to the wellbeing of most sufferers of Parkinson's disease, and ensuring the symptoms are kept to a minimum by both an accurate diagnosis and treatment is the key to achieving this.