Parkinsonism & related disorders
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Parkinsonism Relat. Disord. · Mar 2015
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyCSF tau and tau/Aβ42 predict cognitive decline in Parkinson's disease.
A substantial proportion of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) have concomitant cognitive dysfunction. Identification of biomarker profiles that predict which PD patients have a greater likelihood for progression of cognitive symptoms is pressingly needed for future treatment and prevention approaches. ⋯ The current study has, for the first time, demonstrated the possible involvement of tau species, whose gene (MAPT) has been consistently linked to the risk of PD by genome-wide association studies, in the progression of cognitive symptoms in PD.
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Parkinsonism Relat. Disord. · Mar 2015
Multicenter Study Clinical Trial Observational StudyReduction of gastrointestinal symptoms in Parkinson's disease after a switch from oral therapy to rotigotine transdermal patch: a non-interventional prospective multicenter trial.
Gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are common among patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), due to both the disease itself and anti-PD drugs. We hypothesized that transdermal drug administration may result in fewer GI problems. This prospective observational study (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01159691) investigated effect of switching to rotigotine transdermal patch from oral anti-PD medications in patients with PD and existing GI symptoms. ⋯ This study suggests that a switch from oral anti-PD medications to rotigotine transdermal patch may improve existing GI symptoms among patients with PD. Additional controlled studies are needed to confirm this finding.
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Parkinsonism Relat. Disord. · Mar 2015
Multicenter StudyTREM2 R47H variant and risk of essential tremor: a cross-sectional international multicenter study.
Essential tremor (ET) is the most frequent movement disorder in adults. Its pathophysiology is not clearly understood, however there is growing evidence showing common etiologic factors with other neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases (AD, PD). Recently, a rare p.R47H substitution (rs75932628) in the TREM2 protein (triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2; OMIM: *605086) has been proposed as a risk factor for AD, PD and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The objective of the study was to determine whether TREM2 p.R47H allele is also a risk factor for developing ET. ⋯ These results argue in favor of population-specific differences in the allelic distribution and suggest that p.R47H (rs75932628) variant may contribute to the susceptibility of ET in Spanish population. However, taking into account the very low frequency of p.R47H, further confirmatory analyses of larger ET series are needed.
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Parkinsonism Relat. Disord. · Mar 2015
High specificity of MMSE pentagon scoring for diagnosis of prodromal dementia with Lewy bodies.
Patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) may display a different cognitive pattern from Alzheimer's disease (AD) with more severe impairment performing visuospatial/visuoconstructive tasks. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the analysis of the MMSE pentagon copy could be a useful diagnostic screening tool in prodromal DLB. ⋯ We suggest that a poor performance in determining the number of angles when performing the pentagon copying test, together with the presence of subtle extrapyramidal signs and symptoms of RBD may serve as a predictive tool for early DLB.
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Parkinsonism Relat. Disord. · Mar 2015
24 h Levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel may reduce falls and "unresponsive" freezing of gait in Parkinson's disease.
We report a prospective, open label study of 24 h levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG) as treatment for levodopa "unresponsive" freezing of gait (FOG) associated with Parkinson's disease. ⋯ 24 h LCIG therapy may reduce levodopa "unresponsive" FOG and associated falls. A larger prospective study is needed for confirmation.