Other Parkinson's disease symptoms

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BOSTON, May 25 (UPI) -- Many people think that tremors and slow, rigid movements are the only symptoms of Parkinson's disease, but U.S. experts say there are other symptoms.

In one survey, 88 percent of Parkinson's disease patients reported troubling non-movement symptoms and if not recognized as part of Parkinson's disease and treated accordingly, these symptoms can have a severe impact on a person's life, says the Harvard Women's Health Watch.

The newsletter urges those with Parkinson's disease to talk to their neurologists if they experience:

-- Depression, which affects more than half of people with Parkinson's disease and is increasingly recognized as a symptom of the disease itself, not simply a response to having a chronic illness.

-- Cognitive problems; dementia occurs in an estimated 40 percent of people with Parkinson's disease, six times higher the rate than in the general population.

-- Hallucinations and delusions; at least 20 percent of people with Parkinson's disease develop hallucinations or delusions.

-- Sexual problems; women sometimes report decreased libido, vaginal tightness and loss of the ability to achieve orgasm.