close

About 

Parkinson's

Every hour

2 more people* are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.1

1 in every 37 people* are diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease at some point in their life.1

18,100 people

Estimated number of people aged over 45 newly diagnosed per year* with Parkinson's.1

Parkinson's Disease is the fastest growing neurodegenerative condition in the world.2

* in the UK

What is
Parkinson’s Disease?

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a type of movement disorder that happens when cells in the brain that make dopamine are lost.3

Dopamine helps with many things in your body. It can make you feel:

Pleasure
Satisfaction
Concentration
Motivation

It also helps with memory, mood, sleep, learning, concentration, and movement.4

Parkinson’s Disease is individual to each person.  This is why Parkinson’s can be hard to treat because it has many different symptoms. 

Common physical
symptoms are:

Tremor
Shaking of the hand or arm
Slow movement
Can cause a shuffling walk with small steps
Muscle stiffness
Tight muscles can make it hard or painful to move and can cause cramps
Other symptoms
  • Balance problems
  • Sexual problems in women
  • Swallowing difficulties
  • Constipation
  • Blurred vision and dizziness
  • Too much saliva
  • Nerve pain
  • Anxiety
  • Irritability
  • Light-headedness and low blood pressure when standing
  • Dry skin
  • Sensory issues (pain, tightness, tingling, burning)
  • Depression
  • Changes in attention, memory, personality and psychosis/hallucinations
  • Feeling full after eating small amounts
  • Urinary urgency, frequency and incontinence
  • Erectile dysfunction
  • Excessive sweating, especially hands and feet
  • Loss of sense of smell

There is currently no cure or treatment that can slow, stop, or reverse Parkinson’s disease.
However, there are a number of treatments available to control your symptoms and improve your quality of life. 

What are
Motor Fluctuations?

Motor fluctuations happen when your Parkinson’s medication doesn’t work as well as it used to and your symptoms return.
These are often called "ON" or "OFF" periods, which can happen suddenly or gradually.6

Your medication is working well and your motor function has little to no impact on your activities.
ON

Your medication is not working well and you are less able to control motor function.

OFF

These are individual to you, and your Parkinson’s symptoms might include:6

  • Sudden inability to move
  • Gradual return of tremor
  • Muscle freezing, resulting in increased risk of falls
  • Stiffness and foot cramping, especially in the morning

Images displayed are for illustrative purposes only. Please note symptoms of 'ON/OFF' periods may vary.

You may call OFF periods different things but some examples of descriptions that may relate to you are below:7

“Having the shakes”

“Flare ups”

“Having trouble”

“Not feeling well”

“Down time”

Who and When:

Other factors that could mean you struggle with motor fluctuations are:

Your Parkinson's medication does not work as well as before.6

You were diagnosed with Parkinson's before age 40*8, 11 

You've had Parkinson’s for 5 or more years.9

You take a high dose of levodopa.10

*Young-onset Parkinson’s

What is Dyskinesia

Dyskinesia can be categorised by the following symptoms:12

Uncontrolled, jerky muscle movements

Affects large muscle groups (arms, head, legs)

Smooth, repetitive movement often described as a rolling or writing motion 

Can begin suddenly and stop after several minutes 

Not typically painful 

More likely to occur when Parkinson’s medication effects are at their peak 

One in three patients will develop dyskinesia caused by levodopa after 3 years of levodopa treatment. 

References
  1. Parkinson's UK (2018) The incidence and prevalence of Parkinson's in the UK. Results from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink. Parkinson's UK. Available at: http://www.parkinsons.org.uk [Last accessed November 2025].
  2. Bloem B, Okun M, Klein C (2021) Parkinson's disease, The Lancet 397(10291):2284-2303.
  3. The Department of Health and Social Care (2022) Symptoms - Parkinson's disease [Online] NHS for England. Last Updated: 2022. Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/parkinsons-disease/symptoms/ [Last accessed November 2025].
  4. Bromberg-Martin ES, Matsumoto M, Hikosaka O (2010) Dopamine in motivational control: rewarding, aversive, and alerting. Neuron. 68(5): 815 - 834.
  5. The Department of Health and Social Care (2022) Symptoms - Parkinson's disease [Online] NHS for England. Last Updated: 2022. Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/parkinsons-disease/symptoms/ [Last accessed November 2025].
  6. Parkinson's UK [Online] Dyskinesia and Wearing OFF Last updated: 2022. Available at: https://www.parkinsons.org.uk/information-and-support/dyskinesia-and-wearing [Last accessed November 2025].
  7. Mantri S, Lepore M, Edison B, Daeschler M, Kopil CM, Marras C, Chahine LM (2021) The experience of OFF periods in Parkinson’s disease: Descriptions, triggers, and alleviating factors. J Patient Cent Res Rev, 8(3):232-238.
  8. Spica V, Pekmezović T, Svetel M, Kostić VS (2013) Prevalence of non-motor symptoms in young-onset versus late-onset Parkinson’s disease. J Neurol 260(1):131–137.
  9. Jankovic J (2005) Motor fluctuations and dyskinesias in Parkinson’s disease: Clinical manifestations. Mov Disord. 11:11–6.
  10. Grandas F, Galiano ML, Tabernero C (1999) Risk factors for levodopa-induced dyskinesias in Parkinson’s disease. J Neurol 246(12):1127–1133.
  11. Golbe LI. (1991) Young-onset Parkinson’s disease: a clinical review. Neurology 41(2):168–173.
  12. Fahn S, Oakes D, Shoulson I, Kieburtz K, Rudolph A, Lang A, Olanow C.W, Tanner C, Marek K (2004) Levodopa and the progression of Parkinson’s disease. N. Engl. J. Med 351:2498–2508.