The Hidden Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease:
Raising Australian awareness of Parkinson’s Disease is the aim of Griffith physician Dr Tien K. Khoo, following new research showing that the early onset of symptoms can lead to earlier diagnosis and better care of the condition.
Now working for Griffith University’s School of Medicine, Dr Khoo said he is aiming to raise awareness of Parkinson’s Disease in Australia by developing local research to raise understanding of the disease’s mechanisms and improve its current therapies. “There is still much work to be done in understanding the disease’s presentation in patients and its various clinical manifestations, as well as how it impacts on quality of life and functional wellbeing.”
Newcastle University researchers in the IAH identified that even early in the disease people experience symptoms.
While movement - motor-problems are the main symptom of Parkinson’s disease,
o non-motor problems such as:
o drooling,
o anxiety and
o bowel problems affect a large number of patients and begin sooner than previously thought. Earlier diagnosis could lead to earlier treatment and therefore allow patients to have a better quality of life.
In the study, published in the journal Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, researchers from Newcastle University compared 159 people with newly-diagnosed Parkinson’s disease to 99 people of similar ages who did not have the disease.
o Participants were asked whether they experienced any of the 30 non-motor symptoms screened for,
o including sexual problems,
o sleep problems and
o gastrointestinal problems.
Study author Dr Tien K. Khoo, said: “Often people don’t even mention these symptoms to their doctors, and doctors don’t ask about them, yet many times they can be treated effectively.”
The people with Parkinson’s disease had an average of eight of the non-motor problems, compared to three non-motor symptoms for the people who did not have the disease. Although L-dopa is a widely used basis for treating Parkinson's disease, L-dopa (with carbidopa) has been found to have little effect on many of the non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
For example, 56 percent of the people with Parkinson’s had problems with excess saliva or drooling, compared to 6 percent of those without the disease. A total of 42 percent of those with Parkinson’s had constipation, compared to 7 percent of the control group. For anxiety, it was 43 percent compared to 10 percent.
Dr Khoo said: “These results show that Parkinson’s affects many systems in the body, even in its earliest stages. Often these symptoms affect people’s quality of life just as much if not more than the movement problems that come with the disease.”
Among the most common symptoms for those with Parkinson’s disease included:
however after five months of taking L-dopa and carbidopa frequencies of most of the non-motor symptoms decreased only slightly, showing that ther was little significant effect of L-dopa and carbidopa on non-motor symptoms. Some non-motor symptoms of PD are not improved by taking L-dopa because they are due to the side effects of Parkinson's disease drugs. Some non-motor symptoms of PD are not improved much by taking L-dopa because they are due to a combination of Parkinson's Disease and other factors that are not related to the dopamine deficiency that occurs in Parkinson's disease.
5th March 2014 in Parkinson's Disease News http://www.viartis.net/parkinsons.disease/news/140305.pdf
Both doctors and patients need to bring these symptoms up and consider available treatments.
Raising Australian awareness of Parkinson’s Disease is the aim of Griffith physician Dr Tien K. Khoo, following new research showing that the early onset of symptoms can lead to earlier diagnosis and better care of the condition.
Now working for Griffith University’s School of Medicine, Dr Khoo said he is aiming to raise awareness of Parkinson’s Disease in Australia by developing local research to raise understanding of the disease’s mechanisms and improve its current therapies. “There is still much work to be done in understanding the disease’s presentation in patients and its various clinical manifestations, as well as how it impacts on quality of life and functional wellbeing.”
Newcastle University researchers in the IAH identified that even early in the disease people experience symptoms.
While movement - motor-problems are the main symptom of Parkinson’s disease,
o non-motor problems such as:
o drooling,
o anxiety and
o bowel problems affect a large number of patients and begin sooner than previously thought. Earlier diagnosis could lead to earlier treatment and therefore allow patients to have a better quality of life.
In the study, published in the journal Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, researchers from Newcastle University compared 159 people with newly-diagnosed Parkinson’s disease to 99 people of similar ages who did not have the disease.
o Participants were asked whether they experienced any of the 30 non-motor symptoms screened for,
o including sexual problems,
o sleep problems and
o gastrointestinal problems.
Study author Dr Tien K. Khoo, said: “Often people don’t even mention these symptoms to their doctors, and doctors don’t ask about them, yet many times they can be treated effectively.”
The people with Parkinson’s disease had an average of eight of the non-motor problems, compared to three non-motor symptoms for the people who did not have the disease. Although L-dopa is a widely used basis for treating Parkinson's disease, L-dopa (with carbidopa) has been found to have little effect on many of the non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
For example, 56 percent of the people with Parkinson’s had problems with excess saliva or drooling, compared to 6 percent of those without the disease. A total of 42 percent of those with Parkinson’s had constipation, compared to 7 percent of the control group. For anxiety, it was 43 percent compared to 10 percent.
Dr Khoo said: “These results show that Parkinson’s affects many systems in the body, even in its earliest stages. Often these symptoms affect people’s quality of life just as much if not more than the movement problems that come with the disease.”
Among the most common symptoms for those with Parkinson’s disease included:
- drooling,
- urinary urgency,
- constipation,
- anxiety and
- a reduced sense of smell
- fatique (56%)
- excessive sweating (54%)
- insomnia (54%)
- akathisia (restlessness) 47%
- anxiety (45%)
- and constipation (17%)
- these were all significantly more common in people with Parkinson’s disease than in those without the disease.
however after five months of taking L-dopa and carbidopa frequencies of most of the non-motor symptoms decreased only slightly, showing that ther was little significant effect of L-dopa and carbidopa on non-motor symptoms. Some non-motor symptoms of PD are not improved by taking L-dopa because they are due to the side effects of Parkinson's disease drugs. Some non-motor symptoms of PD are not improved much by taking L-dopa because they are due to a combination of Parkinson's Disease and other factors that are not related to the dopamine deficiency that occurs in Parkinson's disease.
5th March 2014 in Parkinson's Disease News http://www.viartis.net/parkinsons.disease/news/140305.pdf
Both doctors and patients need to bring these symptoms up and consider available treatments.