Types of parkinsonism

Vascular parkinsonism affects people whose blood supply to their brain is limited - if you have had a mild stroke, for example. A stroke usually happens suddenly, so vascular parkinsonism symptoms can develop quickly, but not always.   

The symptoms of vascular parkinsonism include slowness of movement and stiffness. But vascular parkinsonism is also known as ‘lower body parkinsonism’ because it usually affects your mobility.

People can have problems when walking, which means they can be unsteady on  their feet, walk with short shuffling steps, or have balance problems.  

Vascular parkinsonism can also cause bladder problems, communication problems and thinking and memory problems.

How is vascular parkinsonism managed

Your specialist will normally suggest you start taking Parkinson’s medication to see how your symptoms respond.

For most people, the symptoms of vascular parkinsonism usually don’t improve with medication. More research is needed to understand why this is the case, or what the ideal dose may be to manage symptoms.  

There are other ways vascular parkinsonism can be managed:

• Physiotherapy and occupational therapy - a physiotherapist can show you ways to help improve your confidence and reduce any fear of falling. They can also teach you techniques to help you get down safely on to the floor and up again if you do fall.
• An occupational therapist can show you ways to help reduce your risk of falling. To help with this, they might ask you to keep a falls diary to record when, where and how you fall.

Read more about physiotherapy and Parkinson’s, and occupational therapy and Parkinson’s.

• Lifestyle changes - if you have experienced a stroke in the past, your doctor will advise you to make changes to your lifestyle. This can help lower your risk of having another stroke. These may include stopping smoking, eating a low-fat diet, and being physically active.

The symptoms of drug-induced parkinsonism include slowness of movement, tremor, stiffness and difficulty walking. 

Symptoms usually appear quickly, but tend to stay the same. It’s rare that symptoms get worse, like in Parkinson’s. 

Neuroleptic drugs (used to treat schizophrenia and other severe mental health conditions) are the biggest cause of drug induced parkinsonism. They block the action of the chemical dopamine in the brain.

Most people will recover, often within days or weeks, of stopping taking the drug that has caused the symptoms.

MSA is a rare condition that affects the nervous system and causes damage to nerve cells in the brain.

Like Parkinson’s, it can cause stiffness and slowness of movement in the early stages of the condition. But people can also develop symptoms that are more unusual in the early stages of Parkinson’s, such as bladder problems, dizziness, and problems with coordination, balance and speech.

Symptoms tend to develop and progress rapidly.

PSP is sometimes called Steele-Richardson-Olszewski syndrome. It’s caused by brain cells becoming damaged over time.

Symptoms of PSP can include stiffness and problems with balance and mobility, speech, swallowing and vision.

There is no medication to treat PSP specifically, but you may find Parkinson’s drugs, such as levodopa or amantadine, can help with some symptoms.

Hydrocephalus is a build-up of fluid in the brain. NPH tends to affect older people.

The main symptoms of NPH are difficulty walking, bladder problems and thinking and memory changes.

Sometimes the condition can be treated by surgery. A thin tube, called a ‘shunt’, is inserted in your brain. The extra spinal fluid can then flow through the shunt to another part of your body and is absorbed into your blood.

A tremor is an uncontrollable movement that affects a part of the body, for example, the hand.

Essential tremor is the most common type of tremor and is most obvious when your hands are doing something. Essential tremors often ease when your body is resting. It usually affects both the right and left sides of the body equally. 

A Parkinson’s tremor is most obvious when you’re resting and tends to be less noticeable when you’re moving. It usually starts on one side of the body and may progress to the other side as Parkinson’s develops.

A Parkinson’s tremor is most obvious when you’re resting and tends to be less noticeable when you’re moving. It usually starts on one side of the body and may progress to the other side as Parkinson’s develops.

Dementia with Lewy bodies shares some symptoms with Parkinson’s, such as rigidity, thinking more slowly and anxiety or depression.

If you’ve noticed changes in your thinking and memory, you should talk to your GP. It's important to act early as there may be treatments that you can benefit from and things that you can do to improve your symptoms.

Read more about thinking and memory changes.

CBD causes problems with movement, speech, memory and swallowing. It’s caused when brain cells become damaged or die over time. 

There’s no cure or specific treatment for CBD. But symptoms can be managed with a range of treatments including medication, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech and language therapy.

Wilson’s disease is a rare, inherited disorder where your skin and muscles contain too much copper. 

It can cause tremor, problems with coordination, balance and speech, and dystonia, which can cause painful muscle spasms.