Story summary
Katy O'Malley, a 42-year-old runner, experienced persistent pain in her left big toe during an early morning jog. Initially dismissing it as a minor injury related to exercise, she continued running for six weeks before seeking help from a physiotherapist who suspected a neuroma, a thickening of tissue around a nerve in the foot. However, after approximately 20 months, Katy was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease at her young age. Her foot pain turned out to be an early sign of this progressive neurological disorder.
Parkinson’s affects roughly 166,000 people in the UK and involves the buildup of misfolded proteins in the brain that destroy dopamine-producing cells, leading to symptoms such as tremors, stiffness, slow movement, anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Young-onset Parkinson's, affecting individuals under 50 years old, accounts for about 6% of cases but is becoming more common, with incidence rates doubling from 1990 to 2021 according to the journal npj Parkinson’s Disease. Katy's case highlights how early symptoms might be misdiagnosed and underscores the importance of recognizing signs like persistent foot pain as potential indicators of young-onset Parkinson's disease.
Written for “Parkinsons Symptoms Diagnosis” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
On an early morning jog, keen runner Katy O’Malley felt a sudden, nagging pain around her left big toe.
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O’Malley → feel → toe
She ignored it, hoping it was the sort of minor twinge often picked up while exercising.
‘It started to affect my big toe and the two toes next to it – but I just hoped it would sort itself out,’ says Katy.
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Katy → ignore → itself
But fast-forward some 20 months later – and Katy was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease: her foot discomfort had been an early sign of it.
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discomfort → forward → it
Around 166,000 people in the UK live with Parkinson’s, a progressive disease where a build-up of a misfolded protein in the brain destroys cells that make dopamine.
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that → live → dopamine
This chemical transmitter controls movement as well as the reward and motivation centre of the brain.
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transmitter → control → brain
As a result, the main symptoms include tremors, stiffness and slow movement.
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symptoms → include → tremors
It can also cause anxiety, depression and insomnia.
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It → cause → anxiety
The young-onset form – where it affects someone under the age of 50 – accounts for about 6 per cent of cases.
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it → affect → cases
But recent research suggests the incidence of young-onset Parkinson’s is becoming significantly more common, with cases more than doubling from 1990 to 2021, reported the journal npj Parkinson’s Disease.
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journal → suggest → 2021
Exactly why is unclear, although theories include better detection and stronger genetic links in younger groups.
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theories → include → groups
And the causes, symptoms and even how well medication works (more on this later) can be slightly different in young-onset Parkinson’s, explains Professor Roger Barker, a consultant neurologist at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which makes research into this sub-group particularly important.
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research → work → group
When the pain in her toe didn’t ‘sort itself out’, as she expected it to, after six weeks Katy O'Malley saw a physiotherapist who suspected a neuroma (thickening of tissue around a nerve in the foot)
‘The younger you are when you get Parkinson’s, the more likely it’s caused by genetics rather than a mix of more complex genetic and environmental factors – which is the best explanation we have for Parkinson’s seen in older people.
‘
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we → sort → people
And part of the problem is that diagnosis takes longer in younger people because if you’re 35 and see your GP with an odd pain in your foot – a classic early sign – they’re not going to think about checking for Parkinson’s.
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they → take → Parkinson
Whereas if you’re 75, they will.
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they → ’re → ?
For Katy, when the pain in her toe didn’t ‘sort itself out’, as she expected it to, after six weeks she saw a physiotherapist who suspected a neuroma (thickening of tissue around a nerve in the foot).
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who → sort → foot
After treatment made no difference, she was referred by her GP to an NHS orthopaedic consultant, who was also unable to find the cause.
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who → make → cause
‘After that, I really began to worry,’ says Katy, now 48, a local government policy officer who lives in Liss, Hampshire, with husband Ben, 52, a market research director, and their children, aged 15 and 13.
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who → begin → Ben
Then Katy noticed a tremor in her left forefinger: ‘At that point I just knew in my gut that something was seriously wrong,’ she says, and she went to see her GP once more – who referred her to a neurologist.
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who → notice → neurologist
‘She examined me and she said: “I don’t think it’s benign”,’ recalls Katy.
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Katy → examine → me
‘Hearing that was terrifying.
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Hearing → hear → that
You never want a neurologist to say that.
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neurologist → want → that
She sent me for an MRI and other brain scans – and while waiting for the results, I thought I was dying of something.’
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I → send → something
It took about six months for all her results to come through.
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results → take → months
By the time Katy saw the neurologist again in October 2020, her symptoms had worsened – including her left arm now not swinging when she walked (another indication of Parkinson’s).
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she → see → Parkinson
Her neurologist explained that while an MRI scan showed nothing wrong, a DaTscan – a more detailed brain test which uses a radioactive dye – revealed a lack of dopamine-producing cells in the area that is key for movement.
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that → explain → movement
She was told her initial foot issue was due to dystonia, a painful muscle spasm common in young-onset Parkinson’s.
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issue → tell → Parkinson
‘By then I’d been Googling and worked out what it was,’ says Katy.
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Katy → google → ?
‘I was actually relieved to finally know the cause.
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I → know → cause
Parkinson’s is devastating – though I told myself there are worse brain diseases to have.
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I → tell → myself
‘But the fear and uncertainty I felt was overwhelming at times.
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I → feel → times
‘My children were so young [then aged ten and seven], that for two years I didn’t tell them about the diagnosis.
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I → age → diagnosis
It was important for me to continue to live as normally as possible.’
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me → continue → ?
Katy now takes levodopa, one of the main drugs used to treat Parkinson’s.
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Katy → take → Parkinson
The body converts it to dopamine, which reduces symptoms such as stiffness.
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which → convert → stiffness
But while levodopa is the ‘best treatment we have’, says Professor Barker, ‘treating younger patients with it can be more challenging’.
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treating → have → it
He adds: ‘Often patients with young-onset Parkinson’s don’t want to take levodopa because over the years it leads to a side-effect of dyskinesia [involuntary and abnormal muscle movements].
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it → add → dyskinesia
So they want to start the clock on developing these as late as possible.’
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they → want → these
Research into drugs for Parkinson’s has shifted direction in recent years, with greater emphasis on looking for a cure, as a new paper published in the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease this year highlighted.
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paper → shift → Disease
An analysis by the charity Cure Parkinson’s of 444 worldwide clinical trials between 2015 and 2024 showed half were for drugs to slow, stop or reverse the disease.
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half → show → disease
Meanwhile, a major £26million initiative is running across 40 NHS sites to speed the hunt for a cure, by scrutinising several candidates at the same time.
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initiative → run → time
…and 26 more, not listed.
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