Lesser-known symptom in your nose that could be early sign of Parkinson's disease

With Parkinson's indicators varying greatly from person to person, it can often mean that rare symptoms slip through the cracks during early stages of medical analysis.

Such the case with one, lesser-known and somewhat invisible sign of the neurological disorder, which reportedly affects the noses of only a handful of patients.

What is Parkinson's?

For those in need of a reminder, Parkinson's disease is a movement disorder affecting the nervous system. The condition progressively damages the brain over time, and is sadly incurable.

There is no cure for Parkinson's (Witthaya Prasongsin/Getty)

It is estimated that around 18,000 people are diagnosed with the devastating illness per year in the UK. It mostly affects those over 50.

As we say, like many other diseases and conditions impacting the brain, Parkinson's is notoriously difficult to diagnose, due to it's vast plethora of potential signs and symptoms.

According to Dr Beckie Port - who works as the research communications lead at Parkinson's UK told the Liverpool Echo recently: "There are over 40 symptoms which vary from freezing and rigidity to anxiety and sleeping problems."

Some are common amongst patients - such as tremors affecting the hands and arms, a slowness of movement, and muscle stiffness.

In fact, these three often emerge in sufferers of the condition in a kind of sequence, developing gradually appearing mild at first.

Other indicators of the condition, however, are more subtle. Some affect the body physically - like balance issues, nerve pain, difficulty using the toilet, dizziness and fainting, and insomnia. And some affect the mind - like depression and anxiety, cognitive impairment and dementia.

"[Parkinson's] affects everyone differently and no two people present with the same symptoms," Dr Port.

Several symptoms often fly under the radar (Chinnapong/Getty)

"Many people tell us they experience symptoms related to their Parkinson's for a number of years before a formal diagnosis, but the dots were never connected."

As we say, however, there's one sign of the condition that is rarely raised by medics, and is even more rarely diagnosed.

A lesser-known nasal symptom

What many Parkinson's sufferers aren't made aware of during the early stages of diagnosis are that the condition can affect your sense of smell, and limits the ability to smell things. This is also known as anosmia.

According to the NHS, this symptom 'sometimes occurs several years before other symptoms develop', mentioning specifically those related to movement.

Not all patients will suffer this symptom to an extreme degree, however - some might simply notice a reduction in the amount of scent they're able to pick up on. This is why it's often dubbed a 'hidden' symptom.

A loss of smell is considered a 'hidden' symptom (Dima Berlin/Getty)

As explained by Parkinson's UK: "Loss of smell can affect people in different ways. We rely on our sense of smell to taste food, so reduced smell can lead to weight loss or weight gain.

"It can also affect your mood, relationships and overall quality of life. In addition, loss of smell can affect your safety – for example, being unable to smell food burning.

"It does not respond to Parkinson's medication, so is unlikely to get better even with this treatment."