It’s both — but it starts in the brain. Parkinson’s is a progressive brain disorder that affects how the nervous system works, which is why its symptoms can show up throughout the body, not just in movement.
A Brain or Nervous System Disorder?
The Parkinson's experience
What Parkinson’s Is — In Plain Terms
Parkinson’s Disease: From Brain Changes to Body Effects
From Brain to Body
Parkinson’s Disease is a progressive disorder that starts in the brain and gradually affects how the nervous system works. It happens when brain cells that produce Dopamine, a chemical that helps movements stay smooth and coordinated—begin to slow down and stop working over time.
As Dopamine levels drop, communication between the brain and body becomes less efficient. This can affect movement, balance, speech, and even automatic functions like sleep, digestion, and blood pressure.
One way to picture Parkinson’s is like a power grid, but instead of something massive and industrial, imagine a small neighborhood power substation sending steady power to one house at the end of the line. When everything is running normally, the power reaches that house smoothly and consistently. But when Parkinson’s interferes, that small substation can start to misfire, and the house (that specific movement) gets inconsistent or unreliable power.
It’s not a total blackout, more like having one bar of service. The system still works, but the signal isn’t always steady.
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Fun Details
Hold up, wait a minute!
When a doctor uses the term Parkinsonism, they’re describing a group of conditions that can cause Parkinson-like movement symptoms. It’s a broad category, not a single diagnosis. Health care providers often use the term when someone has overlapping motor symptoms such as slowness, stiffness, tremor, and balance changes, even before the exact cause is confirmed.
Think of it like a “category label,” not the final answer, more “we’re seeing the pattern” than “case closed.”
Parkinsonism is a starting point, not the finish line, it helps doctors narrow down what’s causing the symptoms.
“During a recent medical exam, my doctor said I’m showing Parkinsonism-like symptoms, what does that
actually mean?”
Parkinson’s often follows a familiar pattern. It can affect movement, but it can also affect things like sleep, energy, digestion, and mood. This happens because the brain slowly makes less dopamine, a chemical that helps movements stay smooth and steady.
Parkinson’s Disease, on the other hand, is a specific diagnosis.
Parkinsonism describes what doctors see — a group of movement symptoms such as slowness, stiffness, tremor, or changes in balance. It’s a way of naming the pattern of symptoms without yet explaining why they’re happening.
Parkinson’s Disease explains why those symptoms are happening. It’s a specific medical diagnosis caused by the gradual loss of Dopamine-producing cells in the brain, which affects how the brain and body communicate over time.
Parkinsonism vs. Parkinson’s: Symptoms Versus the Underlying Cause
About 1 in 10 people with Parkinson’s are diagnosed before age 50 (often called young-onset Parkinson’s).
Parkinson’s Under 50
More than 10 million people worldwide (und growing) are living with Parkinson’s
Impact Millions
Parkinson’s is the fastest-growing neurological disease in the world.
Fast Growing
Clear answers for a complicated condition.
Lewy bodies (a.k.a. the “uninvited houseguests”).
Lewy bodies are clumps of a mis-folded protein that build up inside brain cells. They don’t belong there, and once they show up, they tend to stick around.
Scientists believe Lewy bodies are an important part of Parkinson’s. Over time, they can spread to different areas of the brain and interfere with how brain cells work. That disruption can lead to both movement and non-movement symptoms.
Think of them like an uninvited houseguest, showing up unexpectedly and making themselves way too comfortable.
Parkinson's Jargon Decoded
Alpha-synuclein (the main troublemaker inside Lewy Bodies).
No lab coat. Just clarity.
Altered mitochondria (the “power plants” running low on efficiency).
Mitochondria are the tiny energy factories inside cells. Their job is to produce the power cells need to function. When Mitochondria don’t work properly, cells struggle to make enough energy to do even basic tasks.
It’s like trying to run a city on rolling brownouts, except no one’s in charge, the outages aren’t scheduled, and critical systems don’t always get priority.
In Parkinson’s, Mitochondrial problems are often seen in affected brain cells. Over time, this can leave neurons underpowered, overstressed, and more likely to malfunction or break down.
Alpha-Synuclein is a protein that normally helps brain cells communicate and handle neurotransmitters. In Parkinson’s, it can misfold into abnormal shapes that the brain can’t clear away effectively. Instead of being recycled, these misfolded proteins can clump together, more like a wad of gum stuck under a table than something the cleanup crew can easily handle.
Over time, these clumps disrupt normal cell function, put stress on neurons, and may contribute to cell damage and cell death.
Because Alpha-Synuclein is a core component of Lewy Bodies, and may be detectable in spinal fluid before symptoms appear—it has become a major focus of Parkinson’s research for earlier diagnosis and potential treatments.
Parkinson’s involves many changes inside the brain. Researchers are still working to fully understand why these changes begin and how they connect. What we do know is that Parkinson’s doesn’t affect just one area, it involves multiple systems working together (and sometimes working less smoothly).
It’s a little like an orchestra where most players are ready, but a few come in a beat late. The music still happens, but it doesn’t feel quite as smooth.
When these systems are disrupted, the brain’s signals don’t travel as clearly to the body. That can lead to the symptoms people notice in daily life.
Some of the major players include:
