Recognizing early symptoms of Parkinson's disease

FALLBROOK – Parkinson's disease is a neurological movement disorder. Classic motor symptoms, such as tremor, rigidity and extreme slowness of movements and reflexes, called bradykinesia, are typically used to identify Parkinson's. However, identification of other, more subtle symptoms may help identify the disease years before more obvious motor conditions present themselves.

Since Parkinson's is a chronic and progressive neurological disease, symptoms are often mild at the onset, becoming more severe over time.

Initial symptoms may be so subtle that they're even difficult for specialists to d...