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Parkinson's Disease Clinic & Research Center
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Parkinsonism is the name given to a collection of symptoms and signs consisting of:
Many neurological disorders have features of parkinsonism. When parkinsonism occurs without any other neurological abnormalities, and there is no recognizable cause of it, the disorder is termed Parkinson's disease after the English physician who first described it fully in 1817. Evaluation by a neurologist is important for several reasons: 1) To distinguish parkinsonism from other disorders that may look like it. For example, there are many causes of tremor, and tremor itself may have many different characteristics. It should not be assumed that someone has PD unless the tremor has all the features of the tremor that is known to occur in PD and other causes of tremor have been excluded. 2) To distinguish between different causes of parkinsonism. Only when no specific cause can be found, is the disorder
labeled PD. There are, in addition, a variety of disorders in which parkinsonism
occurs without obvious cause, but these disorders usually have additional
features that distinguish them from classic PD. Such a distinction is
important because the long-term outlook may differ and the treatment options
may 3) To insure that optimal therapy is instituted. For example, drugs such as Sinemet should not be used until they are really necessary, particularly in patients under the age of 70, because their long-term use may lead to later management problems that are difficult to control. Other medications (e.g. dopamine agonists such as Permax, Requip, Pramipexole and Parlodel) may provide the same benefits as Sinemet, while avoiding the risk of later development of such management problems. 4) To insure that patients are offered new therapies as these are developed. Medicine is advancing rapidly, and it is difficult for non-specialists to keep up with the field. 5) To insure that only patients likely to benefit are offered invasive treatments such as surgery for their PD. 6) To deal with management problems if they occur, because these often are difficult to control. Patients are best able to manage at home, with appropriate utilization of ancillary facilities such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, meals-on-wheels, visiting nurses, speech therapy as required. 7) To provide certain aids to daily living, that may make it possible for patients to continue to live comfortably at ome. This includes, for example, the provision of cutlery with large handles, non-slip rubber mats, extra railings for support, and other changes to the home.
Home | Members of the team | Ongoing clinical research | Support groups | Links and other resources | Link to National Parkinson's Foundation | Information for people with Parkinson's disease | Information for Health Professionals | Introduccion a la Enfermedad Parkinson | Chinese | Contact Information If you experience any difficulty with this site, Copyright © 2007, The Regents of the University of California.
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