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Parkinson’s disease is a condition in which the brain gradually loses cells that make dopamine, a chemical messenger involved in movement. Most people notice it first in how they move: a tremor, stiffness, or everything taking longer. Many also have symptoms unrelated to movement, and some of those start years earlier.
It is not only a tremor. The World Health Organization lists slow movement, rigidity, trouble walking and imbalance alongside tremor, and Parkinson Canada adds fatigue, loss of smell, sleep disorders and changes in thinking. Some people never have a marked tremor. Parkinson Canada also notes that by the time movement symptoms appear, around half of the dopamine-producing cells have typically been lost, which is why the condition is often present before it is recognised.
It is also not the same as parkinsonism, the wider term covering Parkinson’s disease and other conditions that share its movement features, which is what Canada’s surveillance counts. Parkinson’s usually does not run in families: Parkinson Canada says the cause is unknown and about 10% of cases are thought to be familial or genetic.
Which symptoms come first, and how quickly things change, differ between people.
Some things cannot be changed:
Others can often be worked on, usually with support from a health care team:
No single blood test or scan confirms Parkinson’s disease. The diagnosis is clinical. A family doctor or nurse practitioner takes a history and examines you, then usually refers you to a neurologist or movement disorder specialist, who looks for the pattern of slowness, tremor, stiffness and balance change, and reviews your medicines, since some cause similar problems. Blood tests and imaging may be ordered to look for other explanations rather than to prove Parkinson’s. How you respond to medicine also informs the picture, which is why the assessment is often revisited at follow-up rather than settled in one visit.
Treatment in Canada aims at symptoms and daily function, and Parkinson Canada is clear there is no one-size-fits-all plan. A health care team may discuss:
Which of these fits is a decision for you and your own clinician.
Parkinson’s has treatments for symptoms but nothing that stops the underlying loss of dopamine-producing cells, and Parkinson Canada’s fact sheet says plainly that there is no cure. Diagnosis is also late by nature: about half of the relevant cells have typically gone by the time movement symptoms appear, so there is no reliable way yet to identify the disease while protecting those cells might still be possible. Non-motor symptoms are common and less well treated than movement symptoms. The scale is growing: people living with parkinsonism in Canada rose from about 81,000 to about 111,000 in a decade. Research is looking at markers to identify the disease earlier, at treatments aimed at slowing it, at the movement fluctuations that develop after years of treatment, and at environmental exposures.
Studies are how those questions get answered. Taking part is voluntary, informed consent comes first, and you can stop at any time without affecting your regular care. No one can say whether a study will help you personally.
This page is written in plain language for people considering clinical research. It is general health information, not medical advice, and it does not replace a conversation with your own doctor or nurse practitioner.
Canada's national surveillance system counted about 111,000 people aged 40 and older living with parkinsonism, which includes Parkinson's disease, in 2022 to 2023. That works out to 530 out of every 100,000 people in that age group. Parkinson Canada's January 2025 fact sheet gives more than 110,000 people living with Parkinson's and projects over 150,000 by 2034. The two figures count slightly different things, since parkinsonism is a wider term than Parkinson's disease, so they are not directly comparable.
No. Movement symptoms are what usually lead to diagnosis, but Parkinson Canada lists non-motor symptoms including fatigue, speech and writing difficulties, sleep disorders, loss of smell, depression and cognitive changes, and some of these can appear before any movement change. The World Health Organization also lists cognitive decline, mental health conditions, pain and sensory problems among the effects. Non-motor symptoms are worth raising at appointments even when they seem unrelated.
Usually not. Parkinson Canada says the exact cause is unknown and that about 10% of cases are believed to be familial or genetic, with age the primary risk factor and environmental exposures such as pesticides, industrial pollutants and chemicals also contributing. Having a relative with Parkinson's does raise the question, and what it means for you is something to discuss with your own clinician.
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