Medications And Parkinson’s Symptoms
Taking certain medicationsspecifically ones that block the action of dopaminecould cause Parkinson’s disease symptoms. It’s a condition called drug-induced parkinsonism, and while it isn’t Parkinson’s disease itself, it can look and feel a lot like it.
Here are some of the drugs can cause Parkinson’s disease symptoms:
- Antipsychotics
- Anti-nausea medications
- Drugs that treat hyperkinetic movement disorders
Keep in mind that even though these medications could cause symptoms similar to Parkinson’s, they don’t cause the disease itself. And most of the time, the symptoms go away within hours or days once you stop taking that drug, per the Parkinson’s Disease Society.
In some cases, the Parkinson’s symptoms don’t go away after a person stops taking the medication that led to them, and they’re eventually diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Researchers don’t think that the medication was the cause of Parkinson’s in those cases, but that those individuals’ dopamine levels were already depleted, and the side effects of the drugs revealed their underlying Parkinson’s disease. Put another way, the medication was the “straw that broke the camel’s back,” according to the American Parkinson Disease Association.
Research on what causes Parkinson’s disease continues to grow. If you experience symptoms of Parkinson’s, such as a tremor, slowed movement, balance problems, or changes in your speech or writing, connect with a doctor to diagnose the condition.
Common Symptoms Of Drug
The motor features of PD are often very easy to see via a neurologic exam in a doctors office. Rest tremor for example, is seen in virtually no other illness and can therefore be very important in diagnosing PD. But there is one other common condition that induces the symptoms of PD, including a rest tremor, which must be considered every time PD is being considered as a diagnosis, and that is drug-induced parkinsonism.
Parkinsonism is not technically a diagnosis, but rather a set of symptoms including slowness, stiffness, rest tremor, and problems with walking and balance. This set of symptoms can be caused by PD, but also can occur as a side effect of certain prescription medications .
A number of medications can cause parkinsonism because they block the dopamine receptor and thereby mimic the symptoms of PD that are caused by loss of dopamine neurons in the brain. Reviewing a patients medications is therefore a critical step for a neurologist when seeing someone with parkinsonism. Anti-psychotics and anti-nausea treatments make up the bulk of the problematic medications, although there are other medications that can also cause parkinsonism. The primary treatment for this type of parkinsonism is weaning off of the offending medication, if possible.
What Causes Parkinsons Disease
Developing Parkinsons disease is not something that often happens on its own. Of course, there are genetic factors that could play a part in this neurological disorder. However, it is a combination of genetic and environmental factors that could lead to this disease.
In some cases, we have seen recent lawsuits that allege that exposure to certain chemicals has caused Parkinsons disease. Here, we will focus on how people could develop Parkinsons. That could give you an idea of whether you may have a possible lawsuit.
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Frontiers In Aging Neuroscience
Pontificia Universidad Católica de chile, Chile
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Santa Lucia Foundation , Italy
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Differentiating Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms With Parkinsons Disease
Signs and symptoms of multiple sclerosis include numbness or weakness in one or more limbs, partial or complete vision loss, prolonged double vision, tingling or pain, electric-shock sensations, tremors and lack of coordination, fatigue, dizziness, slurred speech, and problems with bowel and bladder function.
Parkinsons disease symptoms typically begin with tremors followed by muscle stiffness, difficulty standing or walking, changes in speech, slow movements, impaired posture and balance, loss of automatic movements, and writing changes.
As you can see, Parkinsons disease and multiple sclerosis do have some symptoms in common, which can make early diagnosis difficult.
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Methamphetamine And Amphetamine Abuse And Parkinsons Disease
The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that methamphetamine and amphetamine abuse can increase the risk of developing Parkinsons disease.
A main insight from this research is that abuse of these types of drugs damages dopamine neurons in the brain. As Parkinsons disease is a dopamine-related disorder, it makes sense that individuals who abuse drugs, and thereby damage their dopamine neurons, may develop symptoms of Parkinsons disease. Since, as discussed earlier, dopamine plays a key role in muscle coordination and functionality, dopamine damage results in motor impairment, a hallmark of Parkinsons disease.
One research study found a near 300 percent increase in the risk of developing Parkinsons disease in people who have abused methamphetamine or amphetamine. This risk is alarming when one considers that despite public knowledge of the devastating effects of methamphetamine abuse, in 2014, an estimated 438,000 Americans in the 26+ age group were currently using this illicit drug. Note that the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and health, from which this statistic is taken, did not expressly collect data on amphetamine use, so the estimated number of amphetamine abusers for that survey year is not available. When amphetamine abuse does occur, it is often in the form of prescription medications such as Adderall and Ritalin.
The good news is that recovery from substance abuse is always possible.
Parkinsons Disease And Cancer: Whats The Connection
Researchers have long tried to understand the relationship between Parkinsons disease and cancer, with multiple studies conducted over the years. Intuitively, PD and cancer are not at all similar, and can even be thought of as biochemically opposite in one disease , cells die unexpectedly and in the other , cells divide too often and are perpetuated for too long. In fact, there have been many epidemiological studies over past decades that have shown that patients who have had cancer have a lower risk of developing PD than the general population. Other studies have shown that people with PD have lower overall cancer risks than people without PD.
Despite many papers demonstrating this inverse relationship between PD and overall cancer risk, an occasional study has been conducted which concluded that people with PD have an increased risk of cancer. It can be confusing to understand the different studies and determine how the resulting information may or may not apply to you.
Here we highlight some of the more common cancer-related topics when it comes to PD:
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What Are Parkinsons Disease
Delusions are false beliefs that are not based on reality. These beliefs are fixed. People experiencing them are unlikely to change or abandon these beliefs, even when presented with evidence that they are false.
Delusions experienced by people with Parkinsons disease are usually of a common theme. These may include:
- Spousal infidelity
- Thinking that people are stealing their belongings
- Thinking people are trying to harm them
- Thinking people may put poison in their food
- Thinking people are switching out or substituting their medications
- Other beliefs based on paranoia
Multiple Sclerosis Vs Parkinsons Disease: Treatment And Therapies
Treatment for multiple sclerosis is lifelong, and although it cannot cure the condition, it aims to minimize symptoms and allow the patients to live as normal of a life as possible. Some treatment methods include corticosteroids and plasma exchange, beta interferons, Glatiramer acetate, Dimethyl fumarate, Fingolimod, Teriflunomide, Natalizumab, Alemtuzumab, and Mitoxantrone, which all help to reduce the likelihood of relapses.
Other treatment methods include physical therapy to improve mobility, muscle relaxants, medications to reduce fatigue, and other medications like antidepressants, medications to control the bowels and bladder, and medications to improve sexual function.
Exercise, meditation, yoga, and acupuncture are also recommended as a means to reduce stress and improve overall mental and physical well-being.
There is no cure for Parkinsons disease as well, but treatments are available to manage the symptoms and slow down the disease progression as much as possible. Alongside traditional treatments, supportive therapies are also used to improve different aspects of a persons health.
Common medications prescribed in Parkinsons disease include dopamine replacement therapy, dopamine agonists, anticholinergics, amantadine, monomine oxidase type B inhibitors, and catechol-o-methyl transferase inhibitors.
You can work closely with your doctor to create a specific treatment plan for you.
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Personalized Medicine In Parkinsons Disease
Figure 2. Integrating PD comorbidities in personalized medicine. Understanding disease comorbidities in PD is expected to advance individualized treatment for PD patients. For example, PD patients with comorbid diabetes may respond better to antidiabetic drugs currently under investigation in clinical trials for PD . Similarly, disease-modifying effects may be observed in PD patients with other comorbidites recruited for clinical trials testing other potential drugs including monoamine oxidase inhibitors , monoamine oxidase type B inhibitors , erythropoietin and c-Abl inhibitors . In the context of biomarkers, some biomarkers may be more useful to diagnose PD patients with comorbid depression, diabetes, cancer or anemia, than other patients with different clinical subtypes of PD. Network-based approaches can be exploited to investigate the molecular mechanisms linking PD with comorbidities and to identify biologically relevant biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets.
Parkinsonism Vs Parkinsons Disease
Parkinsonism refers to a cluster of symptoms that mimic the movement problems caused by Parkinsons disease. Its sometimes referred to as atypical Parkinsons disease, secondary parkinsonism, or Parkinsons plus.
Parkinsons disease is a chronic, neurodegenerative brain disorder. In addition to problems with movement, Parkinsons disease causes non-motor symptoms that arent caused by drug-induced parkinsonism. They include:
- depression
- constipation
- anosmia
Another key difference between drug-induced parkinsonism and Parkinsons disease is symmetry. Drug-induced parkinsonism usually affects both sides of the body equally. Parkinsons disease affects one side of the body more than the other.
Parkinsonism can be caused by medications, repeated head trauma, and environmental toxins. It can also be caused by neurological disorders, including Parkinsons disease. Other neurological conditions that cause parkinsonism include:
- progressive supranuclear palsy
These medications dont cause resting tremors. Rather, they cause:
- Action tremors. These occur in a body part thats moving, not a body part thats resting.
- Postural tremors. These occur when a body part is forced to withstand gravity, such as when arms are outstretched or legs are raised.
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Reasons Why Parkinsons Disease Occurs
The scientific reason given for Parkinsons disease is that the patient has lost nerve cells in the part of the brain called the substantia nigra. A very important chemical called dopamine is produced by the substantia nigra. The loss of the ability to produce dopamine contributes to the early stages of Parkinsons disease.
Environmental Factors In Parkinsons Disease
Here are environmental factors that may play a role in the development of Parkinsons disease:
Although environmental exposure to these and other toxins is of continued research interest, its hard to determine if any one substance is a culprit. Most often, individual cases of Parkinsons disease result from a complex interplay between genetics and environmental and other factors.
Targeting Parkinsons-Linked Protein Could Neutralize 2 of the Diseases Causes
Researchers report they have discovered how two problem proteins known to cause Parkinsons disease are chemically linked, suggesting that someday, both could be neutralized by a single drug designed to target the link.
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B Appropriate Prophylaxis And Other Measures To Prevent Readmission
Ensure adequate nutrition and safe swallowing.
Fall prevention and physical therapy to strengthen the patient.
If the patient is to return home on discharge, make sure the primary caregiver has adequate support systems and community resources available to assist in care.
No sponsor or advertiser has participated in, approved or paid for the content provided by Decision Support in Medicine LLC. The Licensed Content is the property of and copyrighted by DSM.
Clinical Perspectives On Addiction
According to the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 21.5 million Americans in the 12+ age group had a substance use disorder in the year prior to the survey. The term addiction has been replaced in the clinical field with the term substance use disorder.
Per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition , a person may be diagnosed with a substance use disorder if at least two delineated symptoms are present in the same 12-month period . Per the DSM-5, there are a total of 11 possible symptoms. The more symptoms present, the greater the severity of the substance use disorder. Grading along the substance use disorder continuum ranges from mild to moderate to severe.
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Ii Diagnostic Confirmation: Are You Sure Your Patient Has Parkinson’s Disease/parkinsonism
Parkinsonism is diagnosed based on clinical features. A diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinsons disease requires ruling out secondary causes. Medications must be reviewed for possible causative agents, such as antipsychotics, or antiemetics. Parkinsons should not be considered as a potential diagnosis when bradykinesia with either tremor or rigidity of movement are absent.
The Connection Between Pd And Drug
In addition to potentially causing parkinsonism in the general population, these medications should definitely be avoided in people who have parkinsonism from other causes, such as PD. APDA has created a list of Medications to be Avoided or Used With Caution in Parkinsons Disease. It is important to note that there are anti-psychotics and anti-nausea medications which do not cause parkinsonism and can be used safely by people with PD.
Sometimes, a person without a diagnosis of PD is prescribed a medication which leads to a side effect of drug-induced parkinsonism. The prescribing physician may stop the new medication, but the parkinsonism does not resolve. The patient remains off the medication with continuing symptoms, and eventually is given a diagnosis of PD. In this scenario, that person most likely had dopamine depletion in the brain which had not yet manifested as a clinical symptom. The prescription medication that blocked the dopamine receptor, was the proverbial straw that broke the camels back, inducing the full-fledged symptoms of dopamine depletion and revealing that the person did in fact have PD.
The differences of PD vs drug-induced parkinsonism
There are key differences to note between parkinsonism from PD and parkinsonism as a side effect of medication.
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Parkinsons Disease And Melanoma
Even in studies that have established a lower overall cancer risk in people with PD, the risk of certain specific types of cancers is higher than in the general population.
Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that has been consistently linked to PD. People who have had melanoma are at an increased risk for PD and people who have PD are at an increased risk of melanoma. The relationship between melanoma and PD is intriguing:
- The substantia nigra, or the black substance, is the area of the brain that contains the dopaminergic neurons that degenerate in PD. These neurons are full of neuromelanin, a dark pigment found in the brain which is related to melanin, a dark pigment found in the skin.
- Levodopa is a precursor for melanin and neuromelanin.
If a person regularly ingests Levodopa, he/she may be fueling the production of melanin, and possibly the production of melanin-containing cells, which in theory would increase the likelihood of melanoma. However, some studies have demonstrated that the increased melanoma risk is present in patients with PD even before Levodopa is started, suggesting that the relationship is not due to Levodopa intake but rather to a genetic link.
Epidemiological studies have shown an increased risk of non-melanoma skin cancers in PD patients as well.
What to do if you have an increased melanoma risk?
You should know what other melanoma risk factors you have. These include:
How Is Parkinson Disease Diagnosed
Parkinson disease can be hard to diagnose. No single test can identify it. Parkinson can be easily mistaken for another health condition. A healthcare provider will usually take a medical history, including a family history to find out if anyone else in your family has Parkinson’s disease. He or she will also do a neurological exam. Sometimes, an MRI or CT scan, or some other imaging scan of the brain can identify other problems or rule out other diseases.
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Multiple Sclerosis Vs Parkinsons Disease Differences In Symptoms Causes And Treatment
Written byDr. Victor MarchionePublished onJune 10, 2016
Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune condition that affects the nervous system, while Parkinsons disease is a progressive neurological disorder affecting movement. Symptoms of multiple sclerosis and Parkinsons disease are quite similar at times, but there are distinct differences setting the two conditions apart.
Causes of multiple sclerosis and Parkinsons disease are not well known, although there is some speculation to their roots. We will outline those speculated causes and highlight the symptoms, risk factors, complications, treatment, and therapies for both multiple sclerosis and Parkinsons disease to raise your awareness on each disorder.
Types And Symptoms Of Cognitive Changes
Discuss all of these possible causes of cognitive problems with your health care team. This will help you receive the correct diagnosis and treatment.
Mild cognitive changes
Sometimes survivors experience changes in their ability to remember or concentrate after they have chemotherapy. This typically mild form of cognitive change is sometimes called “chemo-brain.” Even these typically mild cognitive changes can disrupt daily living and the ability work. Symptoms include:
- Difficulty concentrating and multi-tasking.
- Inability to think clearly.
Neurocognitive effect of tumors
A tumor or cancer cells in the brain can injure healthy cells and can cause cognitive changes. Chemotherapy, radiation and surgery are treatments that are used to remove or destroy cancer cells. However, they can also damage some of the surrounding healthy cells either by direct administration or by impacting the brain indirectly. Depending on how much damage occurs, there could be noticeable symptoms such as with thinking, memory, speech, visual-spatial problems and behavior changes.
Acute onset cognitive changes
Acute onset cognitive changes are those that occur suddenly. Some acute changes, such as delirium, come and go with no real pattern. This can happen during treatment with certain medications and chemotherapy agents, and may be reversible. Symptoms include:
- Fluctuating alertness and orientation.
Other cognitive changes in cancer survivors
- Anxiety.
- Severe nutrition problems.
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