Health & Medicine

New tools may help diagnose Parkinson’s earlier than ever

The disease can be tricky to spot, but a plethora of new ideas are emerging

An illustration of the outline of a hand made with shaky lines contrasting one made of smooth lines.

Illustration by Matthew Kam

By Meghan Rosen

Neurologist David Standaert can often tell if someone has Parkinson’s disease in a matter of minutes. Maybe their hand trembles and one of their arms doesn’t swing as much as the other when they walk. Maybe their voice sounds softer than usual, and they have a stillness to their body and a masklike look on their face, with little expressivity or blinking.