Parkinson’s doesn’t always start with a tremor — here’s what to watch for

(Aging Untold) — When most people picture Parkinson’s disease, they picture a tremor. But the disease often begins long before that, with subtle changes that are easy to miss — and easy to dismiss. The early signs most people miss “Most people think that when they think of Parkinson’s, you think of tremors. But signs really do, in fact, occur much earlier, very subtle signs like the loss of smell is a big one. And constipation or the changes in the handwriting,” Dr. Rhea Rogers, a board-certified physician, said. Rogers explained what’s happening inside the brain during those early stages. “What’s going on is there is a misfolding of these abnormal proteins that they start to form these things called Lewy bodies,” she said. “And they accumulate and they damage the dopamine-producing neurons in a part of the brain called the substantia nigra.” By the time tremors appear, Rogers said, significant damage has often already been done. “The problem is, by the time you see tremors, you’ve pro