7th December 2014 - New research

SIGNS OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE BEFORE DIAGNOSIS

By the time somebody has been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease many people have already had Parkinson's Disease for years or have had symptoms that were progressing towards it.

Researchers compared those symptoms before diagnosis to their subsequent diagnosis. Those symptoms assessed were : motor features (tremor, rigidity, balance impairments, neck pain or stiffness, and shoulder pain or stiffness), autonomic features (constipation, hypotension, erectile dysfunction, urinary dysfunction, and dizziness), neuropsychiatric disturbances (memory problems, late-onset anxiety or depression, cognitive decline, and apathy), and fatigue, insomnia, anosmia, hypersalivation and REM sleep disorder) prior to diagnosis.

The sound waves At 10 years before diagnosis the incidence of tremor was many times higher and constipation was higher in those who went on to develop Parkinson's Disease. At 5 years before diagnosis those who went on to develop Parkinson's Disease had a much higher incidence of tremor, a higher incidence of imbalance, constipation, hypotension, and a slightly higher incidence of erectile dysfunction, urinary dysfunction, dizziness, fatigue, depression, and anxiety. At 2 years before diagnosis the incidence of all studied features except neck pain or stiffness was higher in people who went on to develop Parkinson's Disease.

A range of symptoms can therefore be detected years before diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease, with tremor being especially common prior to diagnosis.

Reference : Lancet Neurology [2014] Nov 26 [Epub ahead of print] (A.Schrag, L.Horsfall, K.Walters, A.Noyce, I.Petersen) Complete abstract  For more news go to Parkinson's Disease News

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