What are the Five Stages of Parkinson's disease?
Parkinson's disease is a disorder of certain nerve cells in a part of the brain that controls muscle movement. Parkinson's disease can affect people in many different ways. The people with Parkinson's disease experience variety of symptoms. Parkinson's disease develops in five different stages. Symptoms of Parkinson's disease are different in all the stages and they progress as the disease progresses. The time of each stage varies and some people can even skip certain stages of Parkinson's disease. The five stages of Parkinson's disease include:
First Stage of Parkinson's disease
During the first stage of Parkinson's disease the person may experience mild symptoms, which may be inconvenient but not disabling. The symptoms may develop only on one side of the body. Symptoms in the first stage include the presence of tremor or shaking of one limb. At this stage itself, family members or friends can notice the changes in posture, loss of balance and facial expression.
Second Stage of Parkinson's disease
During the second Stage of Parkinson's disease the symptoms are still mild but bilateral. That is they appear on both sides of the body. Both the limbs are affected and the person may find difficulty in walking or maintaining balance. People become slowly incapable of performing normal simple physical tasks. People with Parkinson's disease have minimal disability and their posture and gait gets affected.
Third Stage of Parkinson's disease
During the third Stage of Parkinson's disease the symptoms can become rather severe and some people find it difficult to walk or stand properly. The body movements become insignificantly slow. The person with Parkinson's disease has generalized disability and has trouble in balancing himself.
Fourth Stage of Parkinson's disease
During the fourth stage of Parkinson's disease the symptoms become more severe such that the person has to rely on some one. They no longer can live alone as they can't even perform day-to-day tasks. They require substantial help. Stiffness of muscles occurs and the movements become very slow. Tremors which are observed in first stage may become or non-existent. Bradykinesia is also observed during this stage of Parkinson's disease.
Fifth Stage of Parkinson's disease
This is the final stage of Parkinson's disease during which the disease is severe and fully developed. In this stage the disease usually takes over all the physical movements of the person. The person with Parkinson's disease is unable to stand or walk and look after himself. He can't do any activity by himself and is restricted to chair or bed. At this stage a person requires constant nursing care.