Diagnosis

Your doctor will examine you, with extra attention given to the neurological examination. He or she will look for symptoms of Parkinson's disease, especially for the classic Parkinson's disease tremor, slowness of movement, rigidity and gait problems.

There is no specific diagnostic procedure or laboratory test to establish the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. For this reason, doctors diagnose Parkinson's disease based on the symptoms and results of physical and neurological examinations. If a patient's symptoms improve once he or she receives medication for Parkinson's disease, the diagnosis is probably correct.

Expected Duration

Parkinson's disease is a long-lasting (chronic), often progressive illness. In most patients, 70% to 80% of brain cells in the substantia nigra are already lost by the time symptoms first appear.