Parkinson’s Disease And Hair Loss

What Are The Different Stages Of Parkinsons Disease

Each person with Parkinsons disease experiences symptoms in in their own unique way. Not everyone experiences all symptoms of Parkinsons disease. You may not experience symptoms in the same order as others. Some people may have mild symptoms others may have intense symptoms. How quickly symptoms worsen also varies from individual to individual and is difficult to impossible to predict at the outset.

In general, the disease progresses from early stage to mid-stage to mid-late-stage to advanced stage. This is what typically occurs during each of these stages:

Early stage

Early symptoms of Parkinsons disease are usually mild and typically occur slowly and do not interfere with daily activities. Sometimes early symptoms are not easy to detect or you may think early symptoms are simply normal signs of aging. You may have fatigue or a general sense of uneasiness. You may feel a slight tremor or have difficulty standing.

Often, a family member or friend notices some of the subtle signs before you do. They may notice things like body stiffness or lack of normal movement slow or small handwriting, lack of expression in your face, or difficulty getting out of a chair.

Mid stage

Mid-late stage

Standing and walking are becoming more difficult and may require assistance with a walker. You may need full time help to continue to live at home.

Advanced stage

Treatment For Hair Loss

Dermatologists at NYU Langone prescribe medications to prevent further hair loss and, whenever possible, regrow hair. If the results of diagnostic tests reveal an underlying medical condition as the cause of hair loss, your doctor partners with specialists in other fields to ensure that you receive the treatment you need.

The Role Of Cannabinoid Use In The Treatment Of Sd

Considering Malassezias implication in the pathogenesis of SD, mitigating fungal proliferation and localized inflammation is essential to treatment. Hence, topical antifungals are often used to reduce the proliferation of Malassezia while topical corticosteroids are used to minimize skin inflammation. Additional level A recommended treatments include lithium , which works by reducing the release of fatty acids in the skin, and tacrolimus . For severe recalcitrant SD, as seen in neurological disorders such as PD, only systemic antifungal therapies have been shown to have some efficacy . They are also known, however, to be hepatotoxic, and alternative therapies could be of benefit. Currently, both in vitro and in vivo reports support the potential use of cannabinoids in the treatment of inflammatory skin disorders although studies are few .

Lipid production by sebaceous glands is important in understanding the pathogenesis of SD. It has been shown that patients had more extensive skin desquamation than healthy individuals. Oleic acid has irritant and desquamative effects and is a byproduct of host lipid consumption by Malassezia . Sebum dysregulation appears to play an important role in the pathogenesis of SD. Studying the effects of cannabinoids on sebum production may aid in understanding the potential benefits of oral cannabinoids in SD treatment.

Fig. 1.

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Parkinsonism Falls And Fracture Risk

All forms of parkinsonism, both PD and DIP, have implications for bone health. A 2014 meta-analysis on PD and fracture risk concludes that PD increases the risk of fracture.4

Given that the symptoms of parkinsonism affect balance, motor skills, gait, and the bodys ability to control movement, it is no surprise that people with PD are more likely to experience a fall than people without PD. Here is an excerpt from a 2016 study comparing the incidence of falls and fracture in PD patients:

It is estimated that 60.5% of patients with PD experience at least one fall and 39% have recurrent falls. The high frequency of falls consequently contributes to the increased risk for fractures in PD patients, which has been estimated to be approximately two times the risk in healthy controls. It has been estimated that 76% of falls in PD patients require health care services and 33% result in fractures. Falls and fractures may result in a series of unfavorable outcomes, such as disabilities and death. Furthermore, among PD patients with fractures, the mortality rate is approximately 10.6%.5

All too often, doctors prescribe these drugs without appropriate consideration of this risk. This excerpt from a study on DIP clarifies the danger of accepting a prescription of an unnecessary or inappropriate prescription drug:

Shockingly, the drugs that cause DIP are still being prescribed. This yet one more example further proving that the FDAs drug approval process is useless.

Synopsis

Antidepressants And Mood Stabilizers

Both antidepressants and mood stabilizers can cause alopecia due to TE. Lithium, a common treatment for bipolar disorder, has been shown to cause hair loss in up to 19% of patients who use it for an extended period of time. Valproic acid is an anticonvulsant prescribed as a mood stabilizer. Depending on its dose and concentration, it has caused alopecia in up to 28% of patients.

Another anticonvulsant, carbamazepine, has the same effect but only in about 6% of cases. Rarely, tricyclic antidepressants lead to alopecia, and some patients have also reported hair loss with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs.

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Hair Loss And Shaking

• Medical Author: Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD

Reviewed on 12/21/2020

Hair loss, known as alopecia, can have several causes, including metabolic and nutritional disorders. Shaking is often the result of a neurological conditions like Parkinson disease or benign essential tremor. Take note of your symptoms and when they occur. Contact your healthcare provider any time you are troubled by any symptoms.

While the list below can be considered as a guide to educate yourself about these conditions, this is not a substitute for a diagnosis from a health care provider. There are many other medical conditions that also can be associated with your symptoms and signs. Here are a number of those from MedicineNet:

Pd Genetics And Lipids

Malassezia are lipid-dependent fungi which consume host lipids by secreting extracellular lipases . On the skin, they consume extracellular lipids in sebum , though they can also utilize intracellular lipids by invading keratinocytes . The best documented cases of Malassezia inside the body were reported following lipid-rich parenteral nutrition . In these cases, Malassezia were mainly found within the wall of arteries which contained lipid deposits, suggesting high lipid concentrations are required to sustain Malassezia in tissue .

Interestingly, four LRRK2 risk alleles in PD also increase the risk of CD . CD is likely caused by a T cell-mediated immune response against Malassezia in the gut . It is important to note that only LRRK2 PD risk allele Y1699C has been tested for lipid-droplet formation, and that LRRK2 alleles associated with both CD and PD have not been tested for excess lipid-droplet formation. It is also important to note that the most important LRRK2 PD risk allele G2019S did not reach statistical significance in one of the CD studies : The LRRK2 N2081D CD risk allele is located in the same kinase domain as G2019S, a mutation that is the major genetic cause of familial and sporadic PD . Notably, G2019S did not have nominally significant CD association , likely because of subtle stochastic fluctuations in allele frequencies during imputation. However, it amply reached statistical significance in the other CD study .

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What Can You Do If You Have Hair Loss From Medications

Discuss with your doctor if your dosage can be adjusted or if you can switch to another medication that also helps your condition without the hair loss side effect. Never do this without the strict supervision of your doctor.

In most cases, hair loss from medication will stop a few weeks after you discontinue the drug. However, new hair growth can take a while and might not return to its original texture or volume.

If you have been taking the medication for a long time, you might also develop chronic telogen effluvium. That means you might continue losing hair even after stopping the medication. Chronic telogen effluvium can last up to 7 years.

Discuss your hair loss with your doctor. Discontinuing the drug is not always the only solution. Sometimes, adjusting the dosage or adding a supplement can help a great deal.

Possible Side Effects Of Creatine

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The side effects of creatine will vary from person to person. The negative effects of creatine can be traced back to how much creatine they have consumed, their family history, medical conditions, or the medications they are simultaneously taking that can react adversely with creatine.

Here are some possible side effects of creatine:

#1. Liver damage

#7. Lower quantity and/or frequency of urination than usual

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Brief Report: Hair Loss Linked To Dopamine Agonists

It is foolish to pluck out ones hair for sorrow, as if grief could be assuaged by baldness. Marcus Tullius Cicero

Anyone can be confident with a full head of hair. But a confident bald man theres your diamond in the rough. Larry David

Introduction: When you play golf, they frequently pair you up as a foursome. There seems to two types of people you meet for the first time on a golf course. The quiet-type where you shake hands, exchange names, and then play golf with a limited conversation. The other type is also there to play golf but can be much more talkative and interactive. Both types of golfers work just fine for me.

Recently, I had a tee-time at Mooresville Golf Club, Mooresville, NC, and I was paired up with a delightful couple and another single guy . I liked them all immediately. Around the 4th hole, I mentioned that I had Parkinsons and that I considered golf to be part of my therapy. I was asked about treatment and drugs that I take, especially related to dopamine agonists . Why? Because one of my partners that day had been taking a dopamine agonist for restless leg syndrome. He wanted to know if there was a link with using a DA and hair loss ? He went further by saying his sister also had used a DA for restless leg syndrome and she had noticeable hair loss she stopped taking the DA and eventually her hair returned. I told my new golf-friend , that I would look into the evidence of dopaminergic drugs linked to hair loss, and write about it.

What Are The Symptoms Of Parkinsons Disease

Symptoms of Parkinsons disease and the rate of decline vary widely from person to person. The most common symptoms include:

Other symptoms include:

• Speech/vocal changes: Speech may be quick, become slurred or be soft in tone. You may hesitate before speaking. The pitch of your voice may become unchanged .
• Handwriting changes: You handwriting may become smaller and more difficult to read.
• Depression and anxiety.
• Sleeping disturbances including disrupted sleep, acting out your dreams, and restless leg syndrome.
• Pain, lack of interest , fatigue, change in weight, vision changes.
• Low blood pressure.

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Support For People With Parkinsons Disease

Early access to a multidisciplinary support team is important. These teams may include doctors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, dietitians, social workers and specialist nurses. Members of the team assess the person with Parkinsons disease and identify potential difficulties and possible solutions.There are a limited number of multidisciplinary teams in Victoria that specialise in Parkinsons disease management. But generalist teams are becoming more aware of how to help people with Parkinsons disease.

What Medications Are Used To Treat Parkinsons Disease

Medications are the main treatment method for patients with Parkinsons disease. Your doctor will work closely with you to develop a treatment plan best suited for you based on the severity of your disease at the time of diagnosis, side effects of the drug class and success or failure of symptom control of the medications you try.

Medications combat Parkinsons disease by:

• Helping nerve cells in the brain make dopamine.
• Mimicking the effects of dopamine in the brain.
• Blocking an enzyme that breaks down dopamine in the brain.
• Reducing some specific symptoms of Parkinsons disease.

Levodopa: Levodopa is a main treatment for the slowness of movement, tremor, and stiffness symptoms of Parkinsons disease. Nerve cells use levodopa to make dopamine, which replenishes the low amount found in the brain of persons with Parkinsons disease. Levodopa is usually taken with carbidopa to allow more levodopa to reach the brain and to prevent or reduce the nausea and vomiting, low blood pressure and other side effects of levodopa. Sinemet® is available in an immediate release formula and a long-acting, controlled release formula. Rytary® is a newer version of levodopa/carbidopa that is a longer-acting capsule. The newest addition is Inbrija®, which is inhaled levodopa. It is used by people already taking regular carbidopa/levodopa for when they have off episodes .

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Powerful Mri May Help Detect Apathy Cognitive Problems

A better understanding of the release of dopamine by nerve cells is key to determining what goes awry in diseases like Parkinsons. However, such understanding has been limited due to a lack of detection methods with sufficient resolution, both in time and space.

Until now there was no method that could simultaneously visualize the dopamine signals with high spatial and temporal resolution, said Sebastian Kruss, PhD, a professor at the Ruhr-University Bochum and the studys co-lead author.

Now, a team led by Kruss and including researchers from the Ruhr-University Bochum and the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, in Göttingen, also in Germany, developed a near-infrared fluorescent dopamine nanosensor. It is designed to visualize dopamine release from nerve cells with unprecedented resolution.

The sensors are made of ultra-thin carbon tubes 10,000 times thinner than a human hair. When irradiated with visible light, they glow in the near-infrared range in the presence of certain molecules.

This range of light is not visible to the human eye, but it can penetrate deeper into tissue and thus provide better and sharper images than visible light, Kruss said.

This means that the intensity of the fluorescence should increase in the presence of higher amounts of dopamine.

We immediately realized that such sensors would be interesting for neurobiology, Kruss added.

How Is Parkinsons Disease Diagnosed

Diagnosing Parkinsons disease is sometimes difficult, since early symptoms can mimic other disorders and there are no specific blood or other laboratory tests to diagnose the disease. Imaging tests, such as CT or MRI scans, may be used to rule out other disorders that cause similar symptoms.

To diagnose Parkinsons disease, you will be asked about your medical history and family history of neurologic disorders as well as your current symptoms, medications and possible exposure to toxins. Your doctor will look for signs of tremor and muscle rigidity, watch you walk, check your posture and coordination and look for slowness of movement.

If you think you may have Parkinsons disease, you should probably see a neurologist, preferably a movement disorders-trained neurologist. The treatment decisions made early in the illness can affect the long-term success of the treatment.

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How Do I Prevent Falls From Common Hazards

• Floors: Remove all loose wires, cords, and throw rugs. Minimize clutter. Make sure rugs are anchored and smooth. Keep furniture in its usual place.
• Bathroom: Install grab bars and non-skid tape in the tub or shower. Use non-skid bath mats on the floor or install wall-to-wall carpeting.
• Lighting: Make sure halls, stairways, and entrances are well-lit. Install a night light in your bathroom or hallway and staircase. Turn lights on if you get up in the middle of the night. Make sure lamps or light switches are within reach of the bed if you have to get up during the night.
• Kitchen: Install non-skid rubber mats near the sink and stove. Clean spills immediately.
• Stairs: Make sure treads, rails, and rugs are secure. Install a rail on both sides of the stairs. If stairs are a threat, it might be helpful to arrange most of your activities on the lower level to reduce the number of times you must climb the stairs.
• Entrances and doorways: Install metal handles on the walls adjacent to the doorknobs of all doors to make it more secure as you travel through the doorway.

What To Do If You Experience Drug

Not everyone will lose hair when taking these medications for health conditions. In most cases, its a rare side effect. But if you suspect your prescription contributed to hair thinning or alopecia, you should seek medical advice ASAP. Talk to your pharmacist about the possible side effects of your medications. Also, consult with your doctor to discuss alternative treatments and rule out other possible causes of hair loss. Keep in mind that diagnosing drug-induced alopecia can be difficult, and the only way to confirm it may be to see if an improvement occurs after you stop taking the suspected drug. However, do not stop taking the medication without first consulting your doctor.

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What Doctors Look For When Diagnosing Parkinsons

Certain physical signs and symptoms noticed by the patient or his or her loved ones are usually what prompt a person to see the doctor. These are the symptoms most often noticed by patients or their families:

• Shaking or tremor: Called resting tremor, a trembling of a hand or foot that happens when the patient is at rest and typically stops when he or she is active or moving

• Bradykinesia: Slowness of movement in the limbs, face, walking or overall body

• Rigidity: Stiffness in the arms, legs or trunk

• Posture instability: Trouble with balance and possible falls

Once the patient is at the doctors office, the physician:

• Takes a medical history and does a physical examination.

• Asks about current and past medications. Some medications may cause symptoms that mimic Parkinsons disease.

• Performs a neurological examination, testing agility, muscle tone, gait and balance.