Parkinsonism & related disorders
-
Parkinsonism Relat. Disord. · Jan 2016
ReviewNon-motor symptoms in patients with adult-onset focal dystonia: Sensory and psychiatric disturbances.
Dystonia is characterized by the presence of involuntary muscle contractions that cause abnormal movements and posture. Adult onset focal dystonia include cervical dystonia, blepharospasm, arm dystonia and laryngeal dystonia. ⋯ Clinical studies and neurophysiological investigations consistently show that the sensory system is involved in dystonia. Several studies have also demonstrated that neuropsychiatric disorders, particularly depression and anxiety, are more frequent in patients with focal dystonia, whereas data on obsessive compulsive disorders are more contrasting.
-
Parkinsonism Relat. Disord. · Jan 2016
Interprofessional education increases knowledge, promotes team building, and changes practice in the care of Parkinson's disease.
Examine outcomes for the National Parkinson Foundation (NPF) Allied Team Training for Parkinson (ATTP), an interprofessional education (IPE) program in Parkinson's disease (PD) and team-based care for medicine, nursing, occupational, physical and music therapies, physician assistant, social work and speech-language pathology disciplines. ⋯ The NPF-ATTP model IPE program showed sustained positive gains in knowledge of PD, team strategies and role of other disciplines, team attitudes, and important practice improvements. Further research should examine longer-term outcomes, objectively measure practice changes and mediators, and determine impact on patient outcomes.
-
Parkinsonism Relat. Disord. · Jan 2016
Orthostatic hypotension, cerebral hypoperfusion, and visuospatial deficits in Lewy body disorders.
Orthostatic hypotension and cognitive impairment are two non-motor attributes of Lewy body spectrum disorders that impact independence. This proof-of-concept study examined cerebral blood flow (perfusion) as a mediator of orthostatic hypotension and cognition. ⋯ These findings provide new insight that regional cerebral hypoperfusion is related to orthostatic hypotension, and may be involved in domain-specific cognitive deficits in Lewy body disorders.
-
Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep Behaviour Disorder (RBD) is a REM sleep parasomnia characterized by loss of the muscle atonia that typically occurs during REM sleep, therefore allowing patients to act out their dreams. RBD manifests itself clinically as a violent behaviour occurring during the night, and is detected at the polysomnography by phasic and/or tonic muscle activity on the electromyography channel. ⋯ A growing number of clinical, neurophysiologic and neuropsychological studies aimed to detect early markers of neurodegenerative dysfunction in RBD patients. Anyway, the evidence of impaired cortical activity, subtle neurocognitive dysfunction, olfactory and autonomic impairment and neuroimaging brain changes in RBD patients is challenging the concept of an idiopathic form of RBD, supporting the idea of RBD as an early manifestation of a more complex neurodegenerative process.