Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0030567 (Parkinson's disease)
 63,064 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Parkinson's disease is a relatively common disorder in elderly patients. With carefully performed treatment a considerable improvement can be seen also in patients of high age. L-dopa as well as other antiparkinsonian drugs should be used in lower doses than those subscribed for younger patients. Cognitive decline implies a certain risk for mental confusion, in which case the dose of the causing agent has to be lowered or the treatment interrupted.
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PMID:[Drug treatment is beneficial also for elderly patients with Parkinson disease. Important to consider also other co-existing diseases]. 1133 Jan 47

Since James Parkinson (1817) first characterized the shaking palsy as a unique condition, significant confusion has remained concerning the causes and treatments of Parkinson's disease (PD). Through the 19th century, a wide variety of approaches were attempted in an effort to reduce its cardinal signs--rigidity, tremor, and bradykinesia--but to little effect. Today, approaching 200 years after Parkinson's seminal work, this disorder is commonly treated by surgical means, inducing a lesion in one specific portion of a small nucleus in the central nervous system (Desaloms et al., 1998, Lang et al., 1999). The notion of providing a lesion to the nervous system as a therapy for PD, however, began in earnest at the beginning of the 20th century. The first attempt to alleviate the symptoms of PD through surgical means involved a section of the dorsal roots of the spinal cord supplying the affected limb (also known as dorsal rhizotomy). Although ultimately resulting in disastrous effects, these early surgical attempts proceeded from a firm body of clinical and experimental research on both the central and peripheral nervous systems. After briefly reviewing the use and failure of dorsal rhizotomy as a treatment for parkinsonian rigidity, this paper will examine the manner in which clinicians and scientists justified the procedure.
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PMID:Lesions as therapy: rigidity and Parkinson's disease. 1144 68

Besides the classic motor swings, many non motor fluctuations may occur in Parkinson's disease, but the clinical spectrum and the frequency of these symptoms are not well recognized. A total of 47 parkinsonian outpatients were questioned about any symptoms associated with off state. Nine patients had no fluctuations, 16 referred only to motor fluctuations and 22 to motor fluctuations associated with non motor symptoms. Overall, these patients referred to 54 symptoms (average 2.3/patients, range 1-6). These symptoms were classified as: autonomic (3 difficulty in swallowing, 7 hot, 11 sweat, 2 cold, 1 pallor, 1 abdominal bloating, 1 abdominal pain, 1 abdominal and genital pain, 5 bladder dysfunction, 2 feet oedema); sensory (7 sensory dyspnoea, 1 pain in lower limbs, 1 internal tremor); cognitive (3 depression, 4 anxiety, 2 panic, 1 drowsiness, 1 confusion). In patients without off periods, the length, severity and the average dosages of levodopa were fewer than in patients with fluctuations. No significant differences were found between patients with motor off and patients with associated non motor off regarding age (71.2+/-9.6 years vs 71.6+/-10.7 years), length of the disease (83.2+/-38.5 months vs 95.9+/-58.1 months), the Hoehn-Yahr (3.06+/-0.96 vs 3.02+/-0.96) and Webster (15.5+/-6.99 vs 15.1+/-5.9) scale, the dosages of levodopa (680.9+/-238.9 mg/die vs 679.7+/-289.6 mg/die), the number (2.3+/-1.7 vs 2.8+/-1.5) and length (6.8+/-5.2 h vs 7.2+/-7.1 h) of motor off. The non motor fluctuations were recognized in about 60% of patients with motor fluctuations: usually they were mild and less important than motor off, but sometimes these problems were disabling and led to unnecessary tests and therapies.
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PMID:Non motor off in Parkinson's disease. 1169 27

In this 12-week, randomized, open-label, blinded-rater, parallel-group trial, the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of tolcapone and pergolide were compared in parkinsonian patients with a fluctuating response to levodopa. Patients received tolcapone 100 mg three times daily (t.i.d.), with a possible increase to 200 mg t.i.d., or pergolide titrated to a maximum dose of 5 mg/day by week 9 (mean final dose 2.2 mg/day). The trial involved 203 patients. Efficacy variables that decreased from baseline to week 12 with tolcapone and pergolide included "off" time (reduced by 2-3 hours/day), daily levodopa intake, sickness impact profile scores, Parkinson's disease questionnaire (PDQ)-39 scores, and Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) scores. Improvements in efficacy variables were similar with tolcapone and pergolide, with the exception of improvements in quality of life, which were significantly greater with tolcapone; the relative changes in PDQ-39 score at week 12 were -8.7 and -14.2 (P < 0.05) with pergolide and tolcapone, respectively. Improvements in the investigator's global assessment (IGA) of overall efficacy were recorded in 86% of tolcapone-treated patients and in 78% of pergolide-treated patients. The proportion of patients who withdrew because of adverse events was higher in the pergolide group (15%) than in the tolcapone group (5%). Confusion, hypotension, nausea, constipation, abdominal pain, and dyspepsia occurred more frequently with pergolide, whereas diarrhea and urine discoloration occurred more frequently with tolcapone. Tolcapone was better tolerated than pergolide (P < 0.01) according to the IGA of overall tolerability. We conclude that, in this 3-month study, both tolcapone and pergolide provided improvements in motor fluctuations and allowed reductions in levodopa intake when added to levodopa therapy; intent to treat analysis and a less than maximal dose of pergolide may have biased the results in favor of tolcapone. Tolcapone provided greater improvements in quality of fife, was better tolerated, and had a more favorable adverse-event profile than pergolide.
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PMID:Randomized trial of tolcapone versus pergolide as add-on to levodopa therapy in Parkinson's disease patients with motor fluctuations. 1174 15

Between 8 and 40% of Parkinson disease (PD) patients will have visual hallucinations (VHs) during the course of their illness. Although cognitive impairment has been identified as a risk factor for hallucinations, more specific neuropsychological deficits underlying such phenomena have not been established. Research in psychopathology has converged to suggest that hallucinations are associated with confusion between internal representations of events and real events (i.e. impaired-source monitoring). We evaluated three groups: 17 Parkinson's patients with visual hallucinations, 20 Parkinson's patients without hallucinations and 20 age-matched controls, using tests of visual imagery, visual perception and memory, including tests of source monitoring and recollective experience. The study revealed that Parkinson's patients with hallucinations appear to have intact visual imagery processes and spatial perception. However, there were impairments in object perception and recognition memory, and poor recollection of the encoding episode in comparison to both non-hallucinating Parkinson's patients and healthy controls. Errors were especially likely to occur when encoding and retrieval cues were in different modalities. The findings raise the possibility that visual hallucinations in Parkinson's patients could stem from a combination of faulty perceptual processing of environmental stimuli, and less detailed recollection of experience combined with intact image generation.
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PMID:Reality monitoring and visual hallucinations in Parkinson's disease. 1255 49

The objective of this study was to monitor the long-term effect of clozapine administered to Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with psychosis. Confusion, visual hallucinations, and psychosis are major dose-limiting factors for long-term dopaminergic management of PD. Classic neuroleptic agents exacerbate the motor symptoms of the disease. For this reason, the introduction of atypical antipsychotic drugs has been a major advancement for the management of psychosis in patients with PD. Of them, clozapine is one of the most effective. Thirty-two patients (mean age, 73 years; mean disease duration, 12.2 years) with PD and psychosis (DSM-IV), 14 of them with dementia (DSM-IV), were followed for 5 years with periodic clinical evaluation, Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), and Parkinsonian Psychosis Rating Scale (PPRS) administered before and following the study (at least once in 6 months). Periodic blood count was performed for tracking neutropenia. Nineteen patients (8 with dementia) have continued to receive clozapine (mean daily dose, 50 mg). Thirteen patients stopped medication: 9 because symptoms improved and did not return after weaning off clozapine; 3 patients because of somnolence; and 1 because of personal reasons. The average duration of treatment in those in whom medication was stopped was 8.5 months (range, 1-24 months). No correlation was found between age, sex, duration, and severity of disease (Yahr scoring), the presence of dementia, and the response to clozapine. Also, the PPRS scoring did not influence clozapine response. No case of neutropenia was found. According to the experience accumulated and the results of the present study, the authors believe clozapine is the best therapeutic choice currently available for the management of psychosis in patients with PD.
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PMID:Clozapine in Parkinson's disease psychosis: 5-year follow-up review. 1256 58

We sought to determine whether mirtazapine is safe and well-tolerated as a treatment for essential tremor (ET). We studied mirtazapine in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study of 17 ET patients. Patients were started with 15 mg per day of either mirtazapine or placebo for 1 week and the dose was escalated weekly until the targeted dose of 45 mg per day was achieved. This dose was maintained for 2 weeks. Tremor was assessed at baseline and after 14 days of 45 mg of mirtazapine or placebo. There was a minimum washout period of 14 days between the two arms of the study. Tremor assessments included global improvement, Fahn Tolosa Marin Tremor Rating Scale, Beck Depression Inventory and the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire-39. Patient global improvement ratings indicated that in the placebo condition 12 patients were unchanged and 1 patient was mildly improved. In the mirtazapine condition, 10 patients were unchanged, 2 were moderately improved and 1 was markedly improved. There was no significant improvement with mirtazapine or placebo compared to baseline as measured by the Tremor Rating Scale. Adverse effects were more common in the mirtazapine group and included drowsiness, confusion, dry mouth, weight gain, polyuria, itching, nausea, gait and balance problems, blurred vision, and bad taste. We conclude that the majority of the ET patients do not benefit from mirtazapine. Mirtazapine has significant adverse effects and should be used cautiously in ET patients.
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PMID:Mirtazapine in essential tremor: a double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study. 1272 74

Mervyn Peake (1911-1968) was an accomplished British artist, poet, novelist, and playwright. He was a prolific and talented illustrator and wrote hundreds of poems, 4 novels, and several plays. His exceptional career was prematurely ended by a neurodegenerative illness variously ascribed to Alzheimer disease, Parkinson disease, or postencephalitic parkinsonism. However, a detailed review of biographical accounts produces substantial evidence in support of a probable diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies, a clinical entity remaining undiagnosed outside specialty dementia clinics. Peake developed signs of parkinsonism and insidious cognitive decline during his fifth decade. A breakdown in his writing style has frequently been cited as reflecting his encroaching dementia. Visual hallucinations are portrayed in sketches, and together with paranoid delusions are apparent in poetry composed during his illness. His deterioration was progressive and punctuated by well-described episodes of confusion and psychosis. His occasional preservation of insight is poignantly captured in drawings of figures with dunce caps or pointed heads, often with expressions of fear and apprehension etched with an economy of strokes. Peake spent his final years in various psychiatric institutions but continued to exhibit lucid intervals even late into his illness. His tragic deterioration remained undiagnosed at the time, but in retrospect, his progressive dementia with parkinsonism, visual hallucinations, and marked cognitive fluctuations likely represents one of the earliest recognized historical cases of dementia with Lewy bodies.
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PMID:Dementia with Lewy bodies and the neurobehavioral decline of Mervyn Peake. 1281 Apr 96

Neuropsychiatric symptoms, including dementia, frequently coexist with parkinsonian disorders and may cause diagnostic confusion as well as management problems. Functional imaging studies include single photon emission computerised tomography (SPECT), positron emission tomography (PET), proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy, diffusion tensor imaging, and functional magnetic resonance imaging. This review addresses the utility of these techniques, from the clinician's perspective, focusing on the most common causes of parkinsonism and cognitive impairment, Parkinson's disease with dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, and Alzheimer's disease. The potential and limitations of these techniques for accurate and early diagnosis, monitoring disease progression, and establishing the pathophysiological basis underlying key clinical features are considered. The development of new probes for SPECT and PET cameras capable of labeling protein aggregates (e.g., beta-amyloid) will offer exciting new insights into the spatial and temporal pattern of pathophysiological processes. Longitudinal studies with clinicopathological correlation represent the "gold standard" for fully evaluating functional imaging techniques.
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PMID:Use of functional imaging in Parkinsonism and dementia. 1450 61

Patients in the late stages of Parkinson's disease may be significantly disabled for many years, often because of their increasing inability to tolerate therapeutic doses of antiparkinson drugs. Their status and management have been overlooked in the literature. Few current healthcare professionals have cared for patients with Parkinson's disease in the prelevodopa era and do not understand how severe and protracted the illness can be without effective treatment. This article describes a practical approach to the nursing management of severely affected patients (i.e., Hoehn and Yahr Stage 4-5) who no longer derive consistent, therapeutic benefit from their drugs. Specific problems these patients face are adverse drug reactions such as postural hypotension, psychosis, and confusion, as well as difficulties with nutrition, elimination, mobility and falling, communication, sexuality, memory, and mood. Nursing interventions can help minimize the effect of these problems on the patient.
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PMID:Nursing care of patients with late-stage Parkinson's disease. 1459 35


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