What's the difference between Parkinson's and Parkinsonism?

                From what I can tell, Parkinson’s Disease, good ol’ PD, is one form of Parkinsonism.  Then there are diseases that look like PD, but aren’t, including PSP (progressive supranuclear palsy), CBD (corticobasal degeneration), and MSA (multiple system atrophy).  These often look like PD at the start, but differentiate later; they can also progress more rapidly than PD.  Just to make it confusing, there is the non-tremor-dominant form of PD (you have PD but no tremor), which progresses more rapidly than garden-variety PD (though each person’s PD is so individual, I’m not sure what “garden variety PD” means). Oh, and some of these don’t generally respond to anti-PD medications like levadopa.  These are much rarer than PD, too.  (And if you try to Google search on CBD, for example, you’ll discover that “CBD” is also shorthand for cannabis oil, quite a different thing altogether.)

               Why should you care about Parkinsonisms?  Well, you might be diagnosed with one of these if you don’t fit the mainstream of PD.  I don’t have tremor, so I have a Parkinsonism.  I really, really hope I just have the non-tremor dominant PD.

                There is so much symptom overlap, that nobody knows what you have for sure until they look at your brain during an autopsy - useful for research, certainly, but no help to you personally.  This means that you could still have PD and can benefit from PD support groups and exercise classes without guilt.  You can even participate in some clinical trials.

                Frankly, if you’re progressing slowly or you don’t have a Parkinsonism diagnosis like “possible CBD/MSA/PSP” you should stop here.  This is where we get into “there are worse things than Parkinson’s” territory.

                 Fortunately, if you need more information, there are several places to go:

• http://www.epda.eu.com/about-parkinson-s/types/corticobasal-degeneration-cbd/  The European PD Association has a good description of many of the Parkinsonisms.
• https://www.psp.org/   CurePSP has information about multiple Parkinsonisms such as PSP, CBD, and MSA, among others.  They also have information about online and in-person support groups. 
• www.theaftd.org/  Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration   (they have information about PSP, CBD, and others)
• https://www.multiplesystematrophy.org/  Multiple System Atrophy Coalition
• https://rarediseases.org  National Organization for Rare Diseases
• https://www.brainsupportnetwork.org/education/atypical-parkinsons/ Brain Support Network (supports families dealing with PSP, MSA, CBD, and Lewy Body Dementia, and supporting brain donation so that more accurate diagnosis is possible)

The US’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has information about symptoms and related organizations.  For example:

• https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/All-Disorders/Corticobasal-Degeneration-Information-Page#disorders-r3  CBD
• https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/All-Disorders/Progressive-Supranuclear-Palsy-Information-Page PSP
• https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/All-Disorders/Multiple-System-Atrophy-Information-Page MSA

                Why have I gathered this here?  Because I found this information mostly by following breadcrumbs – wandering around and stumbling on it.  The https://www.NINDS.nih.gov  website has a lot of this information, but I didn’t tumble onto it for months.  It is scary enough to be given a Possible Parkinsonism diagnosis, without information, too.

Image from Pixabay.