Katy O'Malley, a keen runner, initially dismissed foot pain around her big toe as a minor exercise injury, but it turned out to be an early sign of Parkinson's disease. She was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson's at age 42, after a 20-month diagnostic journey. This case highlights a significant clinical challenge: young-onset Parkinson's is becoming substantially more common, with cases more than doubling between 1990 and 2021, yet it frequently goes undiagnosed in younger patients because doctors do not typically suspect it when examining younger people with atypical symptoms.

Approximately 166,000 people in the UK live with Parkinson's, a progressive neurological disease caused by degeneration of dopamine-producing brain cells. Young-onset Parkinson's (occurring before age 50) accounts for around 6 per cent of cases but is increasingly recognised in younger age groups. Katy's foot discomfort was caused by dystonia, a painful muscle spasm common in young-onset Parkinson's; her diagnosis was confirmed through a DaTscan, a specialised brain imaging test using radioactive dye, six months after initial symptoms appeared. The condition is more likely to be genetic in younger people, and young-onset Parkinson's can present with different symptoms and medication responses compared to late-onset forms.