Why Medical Terms Are Mostly in Latin (A Short, Sober Reality Check) & What the Heck Do They Mean?
By: Richie Pikunis
Medicine didn’t choose Latin to be pretentious. It chose Latin because it’s dead.
Dead languages don’t change. That matters when you’re trying to describe the same muscle, nerve, or symptom the same way in Boston, Berlin, Beechworth or Bangalore without it mutating into slang or vibes. Latin became the neutral ground. No country “owns” it. No modern culture updates it. No one wakes up one morning and decides bradykinesia now means something trendier.
There’s also history. Early medical education in Europe was conducted in Latin, so the words stuck… anatomy, pathology, pharmacology. Once something works in science, it stays, especially if it confuses patients just enough to keep appointments interesting.
So when Parkinson’s care throws Latin and Greek at you, it’s not to exclude you. It just accidentally does that anyway.
This glossary exists to help you translate.
Parkinson’s Glossary
Plain language. No white coat required.
- Akinesia: Difficulty initiating movement. Not paralysis. More like your brain sent the email, and your body never opened it.
- Alpha-synuclein: A protein everyone has, but it misfolds and clumps in Parkinson’s. These clumps are not decorative. They interfere with brain cell function and survival.
- Anosmia: Loss of smell. Often shows up years before diagnosis. Nobody connects the dots until later, because who tracks smell like it’s a symptom.
- Autonomic Dysfunction: When the automatic stuff stops being automatic. Blood pressure, digestion, sweating, and temperature regulation. Your body forgets how to run itself quietly.
- Bradykinesia: Slowness of movement. THE definitive Parkinson’s symptom. Not laziness. Not aging. Your internal metronome is broken.
- Cogwheel Rigidity: A ratcheting resistance when a limb is moved passively. Feels like turning a rusty gear. Looks subtle. Is not. Another of the cardinal symptoms of a PD diagnosis.
- Dopamine: A neurotransmitter involved in movement, motivation, mood, and reward. Parkinson’s is fundamentally a dopamine-deficiency disorder, even when people try to complicate it.
- Dyskinesia: Involuntary movements, often medication-induced. Irony is included free of charge. The meds help you move, then move you too much.
- Executive Dysfunction: Difficulty planning, organising, multitasking, or initiating tasks. You still know what you want to do. You just can’t line up the steps.
- Freezing of Gait (FoG): Sudden inability to move your feet, often mid-step. The brain hits pause without asking. Floors become enemies.
- Hypophonia: Soft or fading voice. People think you’re shy or tired. You’re actually working twice as hard to be heard.
- Lewy Bodies: Abnormal protein deposits inside brain cells, primarily made of alpha-synuclein. Parkinson’s calling card.
- Masked Faces (hypomimia): Reduced facial expression. Emotions are still there. The face just stopped broadcasting them.
- Micrographia: Progressively smaller handwriting. Shows up early. Often dismissed as “pen issues” or “getting older.” It’s neither.
- Motor Fluctuations: Cycles of medication working (“on”) and not working (“off”). You don’t control the timing. Planning becomes theoretical.
- Non-Motor Symptoms: Everything people forget to mention. Unexplained apathy, anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, pain, fatigue, cognitive changes, and GI issues. Often more disabling than tremor. See a Parkinson’s Nurse for more comprehensive help with these symptoms.
- Orthostatic Hypotension: Drop in blood pressure when standing. Dizziness, blackouts, falls. Standing up should not be an extreme sport. Drink lots of water to help manage it.
- Parkinsonism: An umbrella term for conditions that look like Parkinson’s but may not be Parkinson’s disease itself. Similar symptoms, different causes.
- REM Sleep Behaviour Disorder (RBD): Acting out dreams during REM sleep. Can precede diagnosis by years. The body forgets it’s supposed to stay still. Now recognised as a common early symptom of PD.
- Rigidity: Muscle stiffness independent of movement speed. Not soreness. Not tightness. Constant resistance.
- Tremor: Rhythmic shaking, usually at rest. Not universal (approx 70% of PwP have a resting tremor). Not required for diagnosis. Just the most stereotypical symptom everyone recognises.
- Young-Onset Parkinson’s Disease (YOPD): Parkinson’s diagnosed before age 50. Often slower progression. Often, there is a heavier psychosocial impact. Comes with extra disbelief.
Final Note You Won’t Hear in the Exam Room
Learning these terms doesn’t make you obsessed. It makes you fluent.
Parkinson’s already takes enough. Vocabulary shouldn’t be one of the things it keeps from you.
Reprinted and adapted for the Australian context from a Facebook post with permission from author Richie Pikunis, living wth YOPD in the US. More at: richiepikunis.com & TikTok (@laughdoctorRichie)
More glossary terms can be found at the Parkinson’s Australia Glossary page.
