Young patients with debilitating Parkinson’s disease have revealed their surprising symptoms of the world’s fastest growing neurlogical condition.
Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative neurological condition, has long been thought of as an ‘old person’s’ disease, as it’s typically diagnosed in patients over the age of 60.
However, in as many as one in five cases, adults under age 50 are struck with tremors, balance issues, and stiff muscles.
One of the most famous examples is actor Michael J Fox, who was diagnosed with the condition at just 29 years old and hid the battle from the public for seven years.
Now, following Fox’s, 62, electric performance with Coldplay‘s Chris Martin at the Glastonbury Festival in England this weekend, other patients with young-onset Parkinson’s disease have shed light on their own battles.
Michael J Fox, 62, surprised audiences when he performed with Coldplay’s Chris Martin at the Glastonbury Festival last weekend
Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at age 29 and has long been the face of the early-onset form of the condition
Amber Hesford of Texas thought her trembling hands were just from drinking too much coffee.
However, after her father urged her to see a doctor, the physician ‘immediately said that there was something wrong,’ she shared in a TikTok video.
Ms Hesford, now 41, was referred to several neurologists, who mistook the shaking for stress, especially as Ms Hesford was newly divorced and raising two small children.
It would take several years before she was finally diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson’s disease at age 35 in 2018.
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder that causes the impairment and death of nerve cells that produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter that regulates body movements.
Without dopamine, patients have balance issues, tremors throughout the body, stiff limbs, and slow movement.
According to the Parkinson’s Foundation, roughly 90,000 Americans are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease every year, and 10 to 20 percent are under age 50.
Experts are still unsure what causes Parkinson’s disease, though evidence suggests that genetic factors and environmental triggers like exposure to strong chemicals and pesticides could be to blame.
In younger patients, a family history of the disease may play a role, according to the Michael J Fox Foundation.
Ms Hesford is still able to work full time and raise her now teenage sons. In 2021, she underwent deep brain stimulation (DBS), a surgery in which doctors implant a pacemaker-like device into the brain to correct impaired electrical signals.
Amber Hesford of Texas was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2018 at age 35. She initially mistook her tremors for a side effect of drinking too much coffee
The mother-of-two underwent deep brain stimulation in 2021 and is now focusing on raising awareness on social media
Parkinson’s itself is not a fatal disease, though it can put the body under significant stress and lead to complications like swallowing difficulty, cognitive decline, and infections.
Mike Michaud of Connecticut was just 42 years old in 2018 when he was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson’s disease.
Months earlier, Mr Michaud had noticed stiffness and rigidity in his right arm and hand. The software engineer was also having trouble typing, a critical part of his job.
Doctors at first attributed the symptoms to a nerve issue or carpal tunnel syndrome, discomfort from a pinched nerve in the wrist.
However, a neurologist suspected Parkinson’s. ‘She told me she was going to prescribe me medication, and if it helped me, it was likely that I did have Parkinson’s,’ Mr Michaud, now 48, said in a TikTok video.
The drugs, Carbidopa and Levodopa, eased his symptoms. ‘I remember going back to work and being completely devastated,’ he said.
‘I remember calling my wife from the car in the parking lot in tears, just wondering what my future held at that point.’
The diagnosis was confirmed with a DaTscan, which involves doctors injecting a radioactive tracer into the blood to measure dopamine signals.
According to the American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA), Parkinson’s patients typically have smaller signals in a part of the brain called the striatum, where the ends of the dopamine neurons are meant to be.
‘For the first couple of years, my Parkinson’s was merely an inconvenience,’ Mr Michaud said. ‘As long as I took my medication on time, I could live my life pretty normally.’
However, in the last few years, Mr Michaud’s condition has declined, and his medication has become less effective. Earlier this year, he underwent DBS.
Mike Michaud of Connecticut was just 42 years old in 2018 when he was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson’s disease. Months earlier, Mr Michaud had noticed stiffness and rigidity in his right arm and hand
Barbara, who is now in her late 60s, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s 24 years ago. Doctors initially told her she was ‘much too young’
When Barbara was 40, she noticed tremors in her right leg. ‘I thought that was very odd,’ Barbara, now in her late 60s, said in a TikTok video.
Soon after, she developed sleep issues and restless leg. However, doctors assured her that these symptoms were nothing to worry about.
Four years later, Barbara’s handwriting started shrinking and becoming illegible. As the physician referred her to a neurologist, he said, ‘You’re much too young to get Parkinson’s disease.’
In April 2000, at age 44, Barbara was diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
‘That day totally changed everything for me. Life as I knew it totally changed. All the things that I dreamed about and built for seemed totally unattainable.’
A TikTok user who goes by TheKiltedDad also shared that he was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson’s disease earlier this year.
‘I mentioned, “Man, I’m having such a hard time sleeping,” and my wife mentions, “It’s not just a hard time sleeping. He’s yelling in his sleep, he’s kicking in his sleep, he’s punching in his sleep, he’s jumping out of the bed,”‘ he shared on TikTok.
TheKiltedDad is taking medication and was able to dance with his daughter at her recent wedding. He is now focused on raising awareness as he copes with the new diagnosis.
‘If you have a loved one and they are yelling, screaming, kicking in their sleep, they’re obviously not resting, they’re talking a lot, make sure you mention it to your doctors because it could be a sign of something else,’ he said.