74. Understanding the Full Spectrum of Parkinson's Disease with Melita Petrossian, MD

Parkinson’s disease is a neurologic movement disorder. It affects the brain and causes difficulty with movement, with the most common motor symptoms being tremors, stiffness or rigidity of muscles, and slowness of movement. According to the American Parkinson Disease Association, it is the fastest growing neurodegenerative disease in the world, and the second most common after Alzheimer’s disease, with an estimated 1 million people in the U.S. and more than 10 million people worldwide living with Parkinson’s. In addition to the well-known motor symptoms of tremors, rigidity and slowness, Parkinson’s disease also manifests in non-motor symptoms including sleep problems, constipation, anxiety, depression, and fatigue, among others, which can be present well before any visible motor symptoms. Dr. Melita Petrossian is a movement neurologist and medical director of Pacific Neuroscience Institute’s Movement Disorders Center. In today’s episode, Dr. Petrossian discusses these non-motor symptoms and explains the different types of testing that can lead to a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease—and what someone living with Parkinson’s may need to consider. For more information, visit:https://pacificneuro.org/