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Sufferers of Parkinson’s disease, a disorder of the central nervous system that breaks down a person’s motor skills, normally begin to manifest symptoms when they are in their 50s.

In the case of Asrihadi, an East Java resident who works two jobs, he was 38 years old when it was found out that he had early onset Parkinson’s in 2003.

“I felt my right hand tremble while I was writing,” Asrihadi said.

“I thought it was because I was tired, so I took a rest for about 10 minutes. But the shaking didn’t stop.

“When the tremors on my hand had gone worse and I felt that my legs were getting heavy and I couldn’t move them, that was only the time that I decided to go the doctors.”

Early onset Parkinson’s is considered a rare form of the disease. One famous personality who suffers from it is American actor Michael J. Fox, who was reportedly diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s in 1991, the year he turned 30.

Banon Sukoandri, a neurologist from the Indonesian Red Cross Hospital in Bogor, said that cases of early-onset Parkinson’s could increase here. However, the Indonesian Parkinson’s Care Foundation (YPPI) doesn’t have the exact number of early-onset sufferers in the country.

Some 2 percent of Indonesians aged 65 years old has Parkinson’s, the foundation said, with most of them being male.

“In the last four years, we’ve been handling patients who are in their 40s who are suffering from the disease,” said Banon, who is also head of the YPPI.

Early onset Parkinson’s is usually attributed to hereditary factors, Banon said. Asrihadi’s uncle and grandfather had the disease, but they were diagnosed with it during their 60s.

Banon said the rarer early onset Parkinson’s was more dangerous than the variety that afflicts older people.

“Sufferers in the so-called productive ages are more at risk of encountering problems with their motor functions later in their life, because they would have had taken more drugs by that time,” Banon said.

“These drugs that help to provide relief from the symptoms have some side-effects that include hallucinations,” she added.

She said increasing the dosage of a one such drug, Levodopa, could cause the same side-effects. Banon also said that sufferers would usually develop a resistance to the drug if they had been taking it for more than 10 years.

“[An increase in dosage] could result in bradykinesia, or the slowing down of physical movement,” Banon said. “In extreme cases, akinesia, or total loss of physical movement, could occur.”

One way for a sufferer to delay the severe impairment of his motor skills is by staying active, Banon said.

“That’s why it’s important to maintain a regular exercise regimen, like jogging, swimming or dancing,” she said. “Use it or you will lose it; that is the key.”

Parkinson’s is caused by the insufficient formation and action of a neurotransmitter called dopamine, which helps to ease physical movements and increases motor skills coordination.

Banon said taking care of Parkinson’s sufferers required patient and family education, support groups, physiotherapy, exercise and balanced nutrition.

“There is no cure of Parkinson’s now, but medication and surgery can give relief from the symptoms,” she said.