Parkinson's Disease

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Parkinson's Disease

General Information

NEWS:

Parkinson's Disease Associated With Major Melanoma Risk "Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) have a more than 2-fold increased risk of developing malignant melanoma compared with the general population, a new study has found. … The majority of PD patients, noted Dr. Bertoni, had at least 1 or 2 of 13 standard melanoma risk factors, including fair complexion, blue eyes, severe blistering sunburn in childhood, sun sensitivity, freckles, blonde or red hair, other skin cancer (past or present), large or irregular pigmented lesions, congenital moles, family history of melanoma, changes in moles, prior melanoma, or immunosuppression."

Parkinson's Disease, Not Levodopa, Linked to Melanoma

Vitamin B6 may cut risk of Parkinson's disease "Dutch researchers found those who reported taking in the most vitamin B6 were about half as likely as those who consumed the least to develop Parkinson's disease . There is evidence that high levels of the amino acid homocysteine could cause damage to brain cells. To see whether higher intake of folate and vitamins B6 and B12, which can reduce homocysteine levels, would also reduce Parkinson's risk, researchers followed 5,289 men and women aged 55 and older who were free of the disease at the study's outset."

ARTICLES:

JOURNAL ARTICLES:

A Survey of Pain in Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease (Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 2006) "Pain was reported as a problem in 85% and was IPD-related in 62.6% of patients, unrelated to IPD in 64.2%, indirectly related to IPD in 8.1%, related to multiple causes in 4.1%, and treatment related in 0.8%. Pain unrelated to IPD was more common, more constant, and more severe than IPD-related pain. Overall, analgesic use was low."

Apolipoprotein E and dementia in Parkinson disease: a meta-analysis. (Arch Neurol. 2006)

Association of daytime napping and Parkinsonian signs in Alzheimer's disease (Sleep Medicine 2006) "Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is reported in Alzheimer's disease (AD), with unstable sleep–wake rhythms that worsen with advancing disease stage. EDS is also very common in Parkinson's disease (PD), regardless of disease severity. … AD patients with more reported daytime napping had more Parkinsonian motor signs, suggesting that this subgroup may have an increased propensity for sleepiness resembling PD."

Characteristics of visual hallucinations in Parkinson disease dementia and dementia with lewy bodies. (Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2006)

Cognitive Change in Parkinson Disease. (Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders 2006)

Cognitive decline correlates with neuropathological stage in Parkinson's disease. (J Neurol Sci. 2006)

Cognitive deficits and psychosis in Parkinson's disease : a review of pathophysiology and therapeutic options. (CNS Drugs. 2006) "Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder causing not only motor dysfunction but also cognitive, psychiatric, autonomic and sensory disturbances. Symptoms of dementia and psychosis are common: longitudinal studies suggest that up to 75% of patients with Parkinson's disease may eventually develop dementia, and the prevalence of hallucinations ranges from 16-17% in population-based surveys to 30-40% in hospital-based series. These cognitive and behavioural features are important in terms of prognosis, nursing home placement and mortality.The pattern of cognitive deficits in Parkinson's disease is variable, but often includes executive impairment similar to that seen in patients with frontal lesions, as well as episodic memory impairment, visuospatial dysfunction and impaired verbal fluency. The most common manifestation of psychosis in Parkinson's disease is visual hallucinations, but delusions, paranoid beliefs, agitation and florid psychosis can also occur."

Depressive symptom profile in Parkinson's disease: a comparison with depression in elderly patients without Parkinson's disease. (Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2006)

Dietary folate, vitamin B12, and vitamin B6 and the risk of Parkinson disease. (Neurology. 2006) "BACKGROUND: Increased homocysteine levels might accelerate dopaminergic cell death in Parkinson disease (PD), through neurotoxic effects. Higher dietary intakes of folate, vitamin B12, and vitamin B6 (cofactors in homocysteine metabolism) might decrease the risk of PD through decreasing plasma homocysteine. Moreover, vitamin B6 might influence the risk of PD through antioxidant effects unrelated to homocysteine metabolism and through its role in dopamine synthesis. . CONCLUSIONS: Dietary vitamin B6 may decrease the risk of Parkinson disease, probably through mechanisms unrelated to homocysteine metabolism."

Differences in neuropathologic characteristics across the Lewy body dementia spectrum. (Neurology. 2006) "CONCLUSION: While there is a clear relationship between the duration of Parkinson disease prior to the onset of dementia and key neuropathologic and neurochemical characteristics, there is a gradation of these differences across the dementia with Lewy bodies/Parkinson disease dementia spectrum and the findings do not support an arbitrary cut-off between the two disorders."

Dropped head in Parkinson's disease. (J Neurol. 2006)

Dystonia in Parkinson's disease. (J Neurol. 2006)

Epidemiological, clinical, and genetic characteristics of early-onset parkinsonism. (Lancet Neurol. 2006)

Essential tremor--the most common movement disorder in older people. (Age Ageing. 2006) "Essential tremor (ET) affects approximately 4% of the population above 65 years of age. The traditional view that ET is a familial mono-symptomatic disorder with a benign prognosis has recently been challenged, as it is now known to be a progressive and clinically heterogeneous condition with sporadic and familial forms. . ET is often misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease, particularly in the older population. Tremor amplitude increases with age, accounting for substantial disability in older people. Current therapy (drugs and neurosurgery) has significant limitations in older people."

Excessive daytime sleepiness and unintended sleep in Parkinson's disease. (Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep. 2006) "Patients with Parkinson's disease and parkinsonian syndromes (eg, dementia with Lewy body disease, multisystem atrophy, and Shy-Drager syndrome) suffer from daytime sleepiness. This sleepiness is common and very real, often approaching levels observed in the prototypical disorder of sudden-onset sleep, namely narcolepsy/cataplexy. Physicians need to be vigilant in assessing parkinsonian patients for sleepiness because treatment can dramatically enhance quality of life and prevent the significant morbidity and mortality that attends daytime sleepiness."

Freezing of gait in Parkinson's disease. (J Neurol. 2006)

Gender Differences in Parkinson's Disease. (J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2006) "Conclusions. Our results suggest that, in women, the development of symptomatic PD may be delayed by higher physiological striatal dopamine levels, possibly due to the activity of estrogens. This could explain the epidemiological observations of a lower incidence and higher age at onset in women. Women also presented more often with tremor which, in turn, is associated with milder motor deterioration and striatal degeneration. Taken together, these findings suggest a more benign phenotype in women with PD."

Head tremor in Parkinson's disease. (Mov Disord. 2006)

Hypoperfusion of the visual pathway in parkinsonian patients with visual hallucinations. (Mov Disord. 2006) "These results suggested that hypoperfusion of the visual pathway was closely related to visual hallucinations in Parkinson's disease."

Increased periodontal pathology in Parkinson's disease. (J Neurol. 2006)

Kinetic tremor in Parkinson's disease - an underrated symptom. (J Neural Transm. 2006)

Long-term clinical evaluation in patients with Parkinson's disease and early autonomic involvement. (Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2006) "CONCLUSIONS: The increased occurrence of levodopa adjunct in autonomically impaired PD suggests that there is a more rapid deterioration of functional performance in parkinsonian patients with early autonomic involvement."

Motor fluctuations in Parkinson's disease. (Rev Neurol Dis. 2006)

Pain and motor complications in Parkinson's disease. (J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2006)

Parkinson's disease and dementia. (Neurol Sci. 2006) "Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders, affecting about 1% of the population over the age of 60. In addition to motor abnormalities, there are several non-motor signs and symptoms that may create a considerable burden for patients and care-givers. Dementia is common and affects approximately 40% of PD patients during the course of the disease, the risk for the development of dementia being 6 times higher than in non-PD age-matched controls."

Parkinson's Disease: Diagnosis and Treatment (Am Fam Physician 2006) "The cardinal physical signs of the disease are distal resting tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, and asymmetric onset. Levodopa is the primary treatment for Parkinson's disease; however, its long-term use is limited by motor complications and drug-induced dyskinesia. Dopamine agonists are options for initial treatment and have been shown to delay the onset of motor complications. However, dopamine agonists are inferior to levodopa in controlling motor symptoms. After levodopa-related motor complications develop in advanced Parkinson's disease, it is beneficial to initiate adjuvant therapy with dopamine agonists, catechol O-methyltransferase inhibitors, or monoamine oxidase-B inhibitors. Deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus has been shown to ameliorate symptoms in patients with advanced disease."

Pilot study of the incidence and prognosis of degenerative Parkinsonian disorders in Aberdeen, United Kingdom: Methods and preliminary results. (Mov Disord. 2006)

Practice Parameter: diagnosis and prognosis of new onset Parkinson disease (an evidence-based review): report of the Quality Standards Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology. (Neurology. 2006)

Practice Parameter: evaluation and treatment of depression, psychosis, and dementia in Parkinson disease (an evidence-based review): report of the Quality Standards Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology. (Neurology. 2006)

Reasons for admission to hospital for Parkinson's disease (Internal Medicine Journal) "Only 15% were admitted for primary management of the motor syndrome. PD was the secondary diagnosis in 645 admissions. Of the latter, 39% were admitted because of falls leading to fracture, pneumonia, encephalopathy or dementia and hypotension with syncope. Cardiac and gastrointestinal diseases accounted for a further 22% of admissions. Complications of the later stages of PD and associated treatments are more likely to lead to hospital admission than management of the primary motor syndrome. Some of the emergency hospital admissions for PD may be potentially avoidable with better planning of management in the outpatient and community setting."

Recognition and management of neuropsychiatric complications in Parkinson's disease. (CMAJ. 2006) "Parkinson's disease is primarily considered a motor disease characterized by rest tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia and postural disturbances. However, neuropsychiatric complications, including mood and anxiety disorders, fatigue, apathy, psychosis, cognitive impairment, dementia, sleep disorders and addictions, frequently complicate the course of the illness. The pathophysiologic features of these complications are multifaceted and include neuropathophysiologic changes of a degenerative disease, exposure to antiparkinsonian treatments and emotional reactions to having a disabling chronic illness."

Regulation of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenocortical System in Patients with Panic Disorder. (Neuropsychopharmacology. 2006) "Anxiety and depressive disorders are among the most common psychiatric disorders with a high number of hospital admissions and a lifetime prevalence of up to 25%. So far, the pathophysiological mechanisms for anxiety disorders remain to be found. Preclinical studies suggest that changes in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) system function are causally related to the expression of anxiety-related behavior."

Relationship between impulsive sensation seeking traits, smoking, alcohol and caffeine intake, and Parkinson's disease (Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry 2006)

Rest and postural tremors in patients with Parkinson's disease. (Brain Res Bull. 2006) "The present results suggest that neural mechanisms involved in PD rest tremor do remain active in the postural condition, even in patients with mild tremor."

Serum Cholesterol Levels and the Risk of Parkinson's Disease. (Am J Epidemiol. 2006) "These findings may indicate a role of lipids in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease. Alternatively, they could reflect the strong correlation--especially in women--between levels of serum cholesterol and the antioxidant coenzyme Q10. If confirmed, this would provide further support for an important role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease."

Sweating dysfunctions in Parkinson's disease. (J Neurol. 2006) "There is a high frequency of dyshidrosis in Parkinson's disease. Daily use of an antiparkinsonian drug does not affect sweating."

The natural history of Parkinson's disease. (J Neurol. 2006)

Vascular parkinsonism. (J Neurol. 2006)

Weight loss in Parkinson's disease. (J Neurol. 2006) "Weight loss is frequent in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Reduced energy intake and/or increased energy expenditure have been postulated as the cause. Dysphagia, anorexia, and gastrointestinal dysfunction may be possible causes of reduced energy intake; whereas, rigidity, tremor, and levodopa-induced dyskinesia may increase energy expenditure. Levodopa may enhance glucose metabolism resulting in enhanced energy expenditure."

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