For years little was known about Parkinson’s disease. Without a cause a cure could not be found. But after extensive research we’re closer to a potential cure as scientists have now discovered a cause for Parkinson’s disease.

But before we get into this new breakthrough, let’s discuss further about this debilitating disease.

What is Parkinson’s disease? Parkinson’s disease mainly affects movement as it is a progressive neurological illness. What we mean by this is that over time Parkinson’s disease worsens. Sufferers of Parkinson’s disease will experience tremors in their limbs and even stiffness and lack of movement which will worsen overtime.

This occurs because damage is caused in the nerve cells within the brain. The damaged neurons?—?substantia nigra?—?contain dopamine, a chemical which controls movement. Damaged and lower amounts of dopamine lead to changes in bodily movement, even limiting the ability to move.

Stages of Parkinson’s disease As mentioned earlier Parkinson’s disease is a progressive illness which means it worsens over time. Parkinson’s disease comes in five stages and it’s not uncommon for individuals to skip over stages and therefore symptoms worsen more rapidly.

Stage 1: Symptoms are mild and the individual may experience slight tremors in hands and arms on one side. Posture, balance and facial expressions are affected and are noticeable.