It can also include a shuffling gait, and muffled speech or diction problems. Cognitive issues may be realized, including dementia. My father had dementia. In his final years he had difficulty communicating. His struggle to find words for his thoughts was painful beyond description.
I hate the disease.
Parkinson’s patients are naturally in touch with their bodies, and are acutely aware as symptoms subtly — and inexorably — advance. They constantly monitor how their bodies feel and react. A slight stumble while walking, or a fleeting balance issue — which would generally be ignored by a healthy person — is a marker for a Parkinson’s sufferer.
The primary manifestation of Lee’s illness is a pronounced tremor of both hands, and also a barely perceptible stammer. But the disease moves forward relentlessly as it short-circuits the patient’s brain. For most, the resultant damage becomes catastrophic.
