A few years ago before diagnosis I noticed that my left arm didn't swing when I walked. It wasn't stiff or rigid. It just didn't swing. I asked my HMO doctor about it and his response was, "Can you still use it?"

I said, yes I could. He laughed and said, "Then don't worry about it."

Now, of course, it turned out to be PD. The odd thing is I noticed recently that my left arm swings fine now but my right arm doesn't!

PD is a strange disease and I grow more suspicious that it is largely psychosomatic with more of a psych component than soma at least for a certain subpopulation. I also read that the placebo effect is strong in PD and can last 6 months or more. Then there is the usual relationship to stressful events.

Perhaps more research should be done on the mind-body connection in PD.