Neurology News & Articles

1 Promotion of physical activity and fitness in sedentary patients with Parkinson’s disease: randomised controlled trial British Medical Journal, March 6, 2013
Nimwegen MV et al. - To evaluate whether a multifaceted behavioural change programme increases physical activities in patients with Parkinson’s disease. The ParkFit behavioural change programme did not increase overall physical activity, as measured with the LAPAQ. The analysis of the secondary endpoints justifies further work into the possible merits of behavioural change programmes to increase physical activities in daily life in Parkinson’s disease. Methods Multicentre ...

2 Utility of transcranial sonography in the diagnosis of drug-induced parkinsonism: a prospective study European Journal of Neurology, April 2, 2013
Romero JO et al. - The objective of this study was to prove whether transcranial sonography, a technique used in the diagnosis of neurodegenerative parkinsonism, can be used for the said identification. Although in the study statistically significant differences were not found between the transcranial sonography characteristics of subclinical drug-exacerbated parkinsonism and iatrogenic parkinsonism patients, the authors believe that transcranial sonography is a valid technique ...

3 Restless legs syndrome in Korean patients with drug-naïve Parkinsons disease: A nation-wide study Parkinsonism & Related Disorders, March 1, 2013
Shin HY et al. - The authors conducted a nation-wide, cross-sectional study to determine the prevalence and clinical characteristics of restless legs syndrome in Korean drug-naïve parkinson's disease patients The study demonstrated an increased prevalence of restless leg syndrome in drug-naïve patients with parkinson's disease than in the general population. Based on the association between parkinsonism and restless legs syndrome, and the unique characteristics of ...

4 Skin and wound issues in patients with parkinson's disease: an overview of common disorders Ostomy Wound Management, June 18, 2013
Beitz JM - Parkinson’s Disease is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder that is expected to increase in coming decades as the American population continues to age. The purpose of this review is to describe changes in the autonomic nervous system due to Parkinson’s Disease with a focused overview of common skin and wound care issues that may affect wound care clinician practice. Implications for nurses and other clinicians caring for Parkinson’s Disease patients include surveillance for ...

5 Glucocerebrosidase mutations influence the natural history of Parkinsons disease in a community-based incident cohort Brain, March 6, 2013
Winder-Rhodes SE et al. - Carriers of mutations in the glucocerebrosidase gene (GBA) are at increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. To the authors knowledge, this is the first time a genetic locus has been shown to influence motor progression in Parkinson’s disease. If confirmed in further studies, this may indicate that GBA mutation status could be used as a prognostic marker in Parkinson’s disease.

6 The relationship between balance control and vitamin D in Parkinsons disease--a pilot study Movement Disorders, April 11, 2013
Peterson AL et al. - Balance problems and falls are a major source of morbidity and mortality in patients with parkinson's disease. Vitamin D supplementation reduces falls and sway in neurologically intact elderly fallers, but effects in parkinson's disease are not established. These findings support the hypothesis that vitamin D plays a role in balance among patients with parkinson's disease and identify specific outcome measures for detecting effects of vitamin D upon balance. ...

7 Finger taps and constipation are closely related to symptoms of overactive bladder in male patients with Parkinsons disease International Journal of Urology, May 16, 2013
Tsujimura A et al. - This study aimed to assess which motor and non-motor symptoms are closely related to overactive bladder severity in male patients with parkinson's disease. Although a study on a larger scale is required to further assess the association of parkinson's disease symptoms with overactive bladder symptom score, information on finger taps and severity of constipation should be obtained when assessing urological patients with parkinson's disease. Methods A ...

8 Prevalence of Parkinson Disease and Parkinson Disease Dementia in Community Nursing Homes The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, May 14, 2013
Hoegh M et al. - The study aims to estimate the prevalence of Parkinson disease (PD) and Parkinson disease dementia (PDD) in community nursing homes and to estimate how many residents who meet criteria for PDD have been diagnosed with PDD and prescribed a Federal Drug Administration (FDA)-approved treatment for PDD. In this sample of nursing home residents, the prevalence of PD was 7.7% and the overall prevalence of PDD was 3.7%. PDD remains an unrecognized entity in the nursing ...

9 The relation between Parkinson’s disease and ageing - Comparison of the gait patterns of young Parkinson’s disease subjects with healthy elderly subjects European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, May 28, 2013
Sale P et al. - The aim of the study was to quantify highlight the differences and similarities between the gait patterns of young PD and healthy elderly, to uncover if Parkinson’s disease (PD) could be assumed as a model of ageing. This study helped identifying some typical characteristics of the onset disease, and to unravel the symptoms of ageing from those of PD by comparing young PD subjects to elderly healthy subjects.

10 Postural and intention tremors: Detailed clinical study of essential tremor vs. Parkinsons disease Frontiers in Neurology, May 9, 2013
Sternberg EJ et al. - An estimated 30-50% of essential tremor diagnoses are incorrect, and the true diagnosis in those patients is often Parkinson’s disease or other tremor disorders. The authors evaluated the location, severity, and directionality of postural tremor in essential tremor and Parkinson’s disease, and the presence of intention tremor, observing several clinical differences. They hope that detailed phenomenological data on tremor in essential tremor and Parkinson’s ...