Tremors can also occur in the head, lips, tongue and feet. Some people even experience internal tremors. Another symptom is known as Bradykinesia slowness of movement, decrease in automatic movement and difficulty of initiating movement. As of yet, there is no known cause of Parkinson s Disease. Researchers are currently trying to understand why there is a drop in dopamine in affected people.
Current indications are that the causes are both genetic and environmental.
It may be as long as five years after the loss of dopamine that symptoms appear. Early detection of the condition is a major advantage in successful management. A recent study out of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota gives hope in this regard. The combination of an experimental drug with a widely available brain-scan device appears to allow detection before symptoms appear. By taking a dose of Beta CIT the drug used in the study this radioactive agent binds to the dopamine dependant brain cells.