Why your handshake might not tell doctors how bad Parkinson's is
Hand muscle strength in Parkinson's disease: A Sarcopenic epiphenomenon or a meaningful biomarker?
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
People with Parkinson's didn't have weaker hands than healthy people, and their grip strength didn't match how much brain dopamine was lost. But as their movement got worse, their grip did get weaker — even though the brain damage wasn't causing it.
Surprising Findings
Grip strength didn't differ between Parkinson's patients and healthy controls at baseline.
Many assume Parkinson's causes early muscle weakness, but this study shows hand strength remains normal even after diagnosis — challenging the idea that sarcopenia is an early sign.
Practical Takeaways
Don't rely on grip strength tests alone to assess Parkinson's progression in yourself or a loved one.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
People with Parkinson's didn't have weaker hands than healthy people, and their grip strength didn't match how much brain dopamine was lost. But as their movement got worse, their grip did get weaker — even though the brain damage wasn't causing it.
Surprising Findings
Grip strength didn't differ between Parkinson's patients and healthy controls at baseline.
Many assume Parkinson's causes early muscle weakness, but this study shows hand strength remains normal even after diagnosis — challenging the idea that sarcopenia is an early sign.
Practical Takeaways
Don't rely on grip strength tests alone to assess Parkinson's progression in yourself or a loved one.
Publication
Journal
Parkinsonism & related disorders
Year
2025
Authors
Emmi K. Saarinen, Tomi Kuusimäki, Kalle J. Niemi, T. Noponen, Elina Jaakkola, Elina Myller, Mikael Eklund, Simo Nuuttila, T. Ihalainen, Kirsi Murtomäki, Tuomas H Mertsalmi, Reeta Levo, T. Vahlberg, J. Joutsa, Filip Scheperjans, V. Kaasinen
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Claims (4)
Reduced muscular strength in the upper extremities is a biomarker for systemic physiological decline and increased all-cause mortality risk.
People with early-stage Parkinson’s have about the same hand strength as healthy people, and their hand strength doesn’t tell us how much brain dopamine they’ve lost.
In Parkinson’s, the brain’s dopamine system gets worse by about 4% each year, and that’s linked to worse movement — but your hand strength doesn’t get weaker at the same rate.
As Parkinson’s symptoms get worse, people’s hand strength tends to get weaker too — but not because their brain dopamine is dropping; something else is causing both.