Psychotherapy For Parkinson’s Disease

Etiology Risk Factors Or Correlates

The exact pathoetiology of PDP has not been identified. Nonpharmacologic risk factors and correlates for the development of PDP include advanced age, comorbid medical conditions , and PD severity and duration.12 The complexity of PDP pathoetiology is apparent from a number of recent reviews and studies suggesting multifactorial abnormalities, including metabolic, neurotransmitter, sensory pathway, and structural brain alterations, as well as changes in visual processing and sleep disorders.12–14 Although exposure to PD medications is not a requirement for development of PDP, multiple medication classes, such as amantadine, anticholinergics, catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitors, dopamine agonists, levodopa, and monoamine oxidase type B inhibitors, have all been associated with triggering PDP.13 In particular, up to one third of patients exposed to chronic dopaminergic therapy will experience visual hallucinations.15 Other pharmacy elements, such as polypharmacy burden, levodopa-equivalent doses, and use of certain medications , are also associated with the development of PDP symptoms.

Manual Therapy And Exercise

Chiropractic manipulation, osteopathic manipulation, and Trager therapy have been suggested to benefit patients with Parkinsons disease. No studies exist, however, to refute or confirm this position. The Alexander technique has shown some benefit and patient improvement has been noted in some studies.

Standard physical therapy, as well as occupational therapy, did result in improved functional outcomes, but the benefit was small and was not sustained when the exercise therapy stopped.

Us Food And Drug Administrationapproved Agents For Pdp: Pimavanserin

Pimavanserin is a 5-HT2A inverse agonist indicated for the treatment of hallucinations and delusions associated with PDP.25 Pimavanserin binds preferentially to the 5-HT2A receptor and, to a lesser extent, to the 5-HT2C receptors, and has low binding affinity to alpha, dopamine D2, histamine, muscarinic, and other serotonin receptors.26 The pharmacologic rationale for the efficacy of pimavanserin in PDP is based on investigations demonstrating that overstimulation of postsynaptic 5-HT neurons contributes to psychotic symptoms in PD. Serotonin 5-HT2A receptors exhibit baseline activity.27,28 In other words, 5-HT2A receptors spontaneously signal to produce and regulate cellular postsynaptic activity. Pimavanserin binds to 5-HT2A receptors and blocks the receptor and reduces the spontaneous baseline activity.28 This property of binding to the receptor and reducing spontaneous baseline activity is referred to as inverse agonism.

The US Food and Drug Administrationapproved labels for pimavanserin and all antipsychotics contain a boxed warning stating elderly patients with dementia-related psychosis treated with antipsychotic drugs are at an increased risk of death.31 However, it is important to note that if the psychotic symptoms are related to the underlying PD, pimavanserin can be used in patients with concurrent dementia.

You May Like: Parkinson’s Bike Therapy

Speech And Voice Disorders In Parkinsons

There are several reasons people with PD have reduced loudness and a monotone, breathy voice. One reason is directly related to the disordered motor system that accompanies PD, including rigidity, slowness of movement and tremor. For example, the poor muscle activation that leads to bradykinesia and hypokinesia in the limbs can translate to the muscles involved in speech. These problems with muscle activation can result in reduced movements of the respiratory system , larynx and articulation .

Another cause of speech and voice impairment in PD is a change in sensory processing that is related to speech. It is believed that people with PD may not be aware that their speech is getting softer and more difficult to understand. When people in this situation are asked to bring their voice to normal loudness, they often feel as though they are shouting, even though they are perceived by listeners to be speaking normally

Another cause of this condition is that people with PD may have a problem with cueing themselves to produce speech with adequate loudness. Individuals with PD can respond to an external cue , but their ability to cue themselves internally to use a louder voice is impaired. These problems can be frustrating both for the person and for the family.

Who Can Get It

While anyone can develop Parkinsons disease, age is the greatest factor in receiving a diagnosis. The average age of developing this disease is 60, and men are more likely to receive a diagnosis than women. Having a close relative, like a parent or sibling, who has Parkinsons disease doubles your risk factor.

Also Check: Pfnca Wellness Programs

I Know There Are People I Can Talk To But How Do I Actually Take That Step

You want to find a therapist who you feel comfortable with and who understands your situation. The therapists at Alkira have extensive training and experience with Parkinsons Disease and we are committed to compassionate, accessible counseling. If you are interested in learning more about counseling at Alkira or to schedule an appointment, we are available at 315 492-1390 or . The hardest step is making that first call/sending that first email. Once you reach out, it gets easier.

The Difference Between Psychiatrists And Psychologists

Psychiatrists and psychologists are both mental health professionals who treat depression and anxiety. However, there are important differences between them.3

Psychiatrists are medical doctors who have completed medical school and a residency. Psychiatrists can prescribe medicine, like antidepressants or anti-anxiety drugs. They also conduct talk therapy and can order or perform a number of lab tests. They understand the complex relationship between medical illnesses and emotional health. Their training is more focused on biology and neurochemistry.3

Psychologists have advanced degrees, usually a masters degree or PhD. They also have extensive training in research or clinical practice. Psychologists can perform psychological evaluations and treat mental health problems with psychotherapy and other behavioral interventions. Their training is more focused on behavior.3

Some people work with both a psychiatrist and a psychologist as part of their healthcare team.3

Read Also: Voice Amplifiers For Parkinson’s

What Are Some Integrative Therapies To Consider For Parkinsons

More info on this topic

Parkinsons is a complex disease that manifests in different ways for everyone and includes both motor and non-motor symptoms, from tremors and dyskinesia to depression and cognitive difficulties. Because the spectrum of experiences is broad, many people seek a variety of treatments and practices to manage symptoms. These approaches include holistic, or integrative therapies, in addition to standard pharmacological and surgical treatments.

Depending on which survey you read, anywhere from 40-85% of people with PD try some form of holistic therapy – and most who try them find them to be effective.

Integrative or holistic therapies should not be considered cures for Parkinsons rather, they can address the wellbeing of the whole person – body, mind, spirit – and work in tandem with conventional approaches recommended by your healthcare provider. Because of this, you should always let your provider know what integrative therapies you are considering using.

Pathological Changes In The Cerebellum In Pd

PD is characterized by Lewy body pathology formed by -synuclein, while cerebellum was thought to be unaffected by Lewy bodies previously,. However, recent studies discovered -synuclein-related pathological changes in the cerebellum in PD patients, which may be associated with tremor symptoms. In PD patients, -synuclein-formed Lewy bodies, which were speculated to originate in the pre-cerebellar brainstem and spread in a prion-like manner, were identified in the cerebellum. Lewy bodies were found mainly in the cerebellar nuclei and adjacent white matters, while cerebellar lobules were only affected mildly. Histologically, in the cerebellum of PD patients, Lewy bodies were found in Bergmann glia in the molecular layer and Purkinje cell axons,.

PD patients have longer climbing fiber length, more climbing fibers extending into the molecular layer, more climbing fiber-Purkinje cell synapses, and increased percentage of climbing fiber-Purkinje cell synapses on the thin Purkinje cell dendritic branchlets compared with healthy controls, accompanied by torpedoes/swelling of Purkinje cell axons,. Based on cluster analysis, these pathological changes may form a pattern that predicts the presence of resting tremor, PD patients with lower climbing-fiber synaptic density and a higher Purkinje cell count tend to have rest tremor.

Read Also: Judy Woodruff Parkinson’s

A Review On Parkinsons Disease Treatment

5214526Tori K. Lee Eva L. Yankee

Department of Biology, Angwin, CA 94508, USA .

Received:First Decision:Revised:Accepted:Available online:Academic Editors:Copy Editor:Production Editor:

© The Author 2021. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , which permits unrestricted use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Medicare And The Therapy Cap Removal

Historically, Medicare has limited the amount of physical, occupational and speech therapy a beneficiary could receive in a given year. In some years, Congress created an exceptions process that allowed individuals to access therapy above the cap if the services were deemed medically necessary, but this process needed to be renewed by lawmakers every few years, creating uncertainty and the potential for coverage denials.

The Parkinsons Foundation has worked with the PD community to address Medicare challenges related to services such as physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech-language therapy since 2011, including advocacy in 2014 to remove the Improvement Standard, which meant that people with Parkinsons could no longer be denied coverage for therapy solely for lack of improvement. In February of 2018, this exceptions process was made permanent, meaning people on Medicare can no longer be denied therapy if they need it to manage their health conditions.

Recommended Reading: Diseases Similar To Parkinsons

New Treatment Provides Freedom For Patient

Two advocates of Duopa are Parkinsons patient George Connors and his wife, Kay, of Randleman, North Carolina.

Among the first participants in the clinical trial at Wake Forest Baptist, he has been taking Duopa for more than 5 years now.

Its been a lifesaver, his wife said. It has made it easier for him to get up and do things.

Kay said the unreliable action of levodopa pills made it difficult for her husband to pursue activities he loved. But with Duopa, she said, he goes fishing, mows the yard and does outside work, all without having to remember when to take the pills.

George gave one example of how Duopa works better for him than pills. He said it used to take him as much as an hour each morning to stand up properly because his toes would cramp overnight and the levodopa pills were slow to work. With the Duopa pump system, he said, his toe cramps are gone within minutes.

Siddiqui said that new drugs and new delivery methods for existing drugs can relieve many of the symptoms experienced by people with Parkinsons and that ongoing research holds hope for the future.

Out of all the neurological diseases, we are finding Parkinsons to have more and more treatments available, he said.

You May Like: On-off Phenomenon

Treating Parkinsons With Complementary Medicine

Complementary medicine incorporates many different practices that can be used alongside conventional medicine to try to ease PD symptoms. There is typically not as much rigorous data to support the use of complementary medicine techniques, as compared to conventional medicine, but many patients find them helpful. These include yoga and massage.

Also Check: Adaptive Silverware For Parkinsons

Read Also: Fitflop Shoes For Parkinson’s

Individual Or Relationship Counseling Support Groups And The Empower Parkinson Family Can Help You Feel Confident And Connected

We at Alkira Marriage & Family Therapy know and understand the vast array of relational and individual changes that can come along with a diagnosis of Parkinsons disease. Our collaboration with Empower Parkinson, Inc, allows our trained therapists to offer support for those dealing with a Parkinsons diagnosis through 1.) monthly support meetings, 2.) individual therapy, and 3.) couples or family therapy.

Effectiveness Of Integrative Therapy For Parkinsons Disease Management

• 1Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Korean Medicine, Dongguk University Graduate School, Seoul, South Korea
• 2Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Korean Medicine, Dongguk University, Gyeongju, South Korea

Objectives: To investigate the effectiveness of integrative therapy on prevalence and length of hospitalization and management of major complications of Parkinsons disease in the South Korea.

Methods: This study was a retrospective cohort analysis conducted using the National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort in the South Korea. Patients over 65 years old who were newly diagnosed with PD during 20072011 were identified. The integrative therapy group was defined as patients treated with both Korean medicine and biomedicine, and the monotherapy group consisted of patients treated with biomedicine alone. From PD diagnosis to 2013, the prevalence and annual length of hospitalization because of PD and major complications were analyzed using logistic regression, ANOVA and t-tests after propensity score matching with a 1:1 ratio.

It has not been clearly identified that integrative therapy with KM and biomedicine for PD management is better treatment for patients compared to biomedicine monotherapy however, we found a clue of better result in integrated therapy. Therefore, further investigation by increasing the number of subjects is needed to confirm the findings presented herein.

You May Like: Weighted Silverware

Also Check: On-off Phenomenon

Speech Therapy And Parkinson’s

Research shows that 89 percent of people with Parkinsons disease experience speech and voice disorders, including soft, monotone, breathy and hoarse voice and uncertain articulation. As a result, people with PD report they are less likely to participate in conversation, or have confidence in social settings than healthy individuals in their age group.

Speech disorders can progressively diminish quality of life for a person with PD. The earlier a person receives a baseline speech evaluation and speech therapy, the more likely he or she will be able to maintain communication skills as the disease progresses. Communication is a key element in quality of life and positive self-concept and confidence for people with PD.

What Are The Causes Of Parkinsons Disease

Despite the ongoing research, the exact cause or trigger behind Parkinsons disease is unknown. The primary linking cause is believed to be the reduced secretion of dopamine and norepinephrine. Some research suggests that a viral attack could contribute to the disease too.

Another standout trigger is the excess of Lewy bodies, a type of protein molecule, in the brain of Parkinsons disease patients. However, there is no conclusive understanding of whether or not these elevated levels have anything to do with the further progression of the disease or not.

The two main factors contributing to Parkinsons disease include:

Genetic predisposition a patient is more likely at risk of having the disease if there is a familial medical history of the same. Specific genetic mutations might also play a critical role in the onset of the disease.

Environmental factors certain toxins and even viruses are related to increasing the risks of this condition, especially in the older age.

Currently, the researchers are focused on understanding the chemistry and impacts of Lewy bodies in Parkinsons disease patients. Studies are looking into a specific protein called alpha-synuclein , which is found clumped around the Lewy body in PD patients. Whether or not or how it contributes to the progression of the disease is what the researchers are currently focused on.

Induced Parkinsonism

Some of the most potent causes behind that are:

• Toxins, and poison ingestion,
• Injury, and trauma.

Recommended Reading: Adaptive Silverware For Parkinson’s

Treatment Of Neurobehavioral Features

Treatment of cognitive deficits associated with PD is as challenging as the treatment of Alzheimers disease and other dementias. While the general assumption has been that cognitive deficits are a feature of late-stage PD, clinically inapparent cognitive changes on neuropsychiatric testing may be found . With the introduction of cholinesterase inhibitors such as donepezil , rivastigmine , and galantamine and the NDMA antagonist memantine , it is possible that cognition, orientation and language function will improve, and that such improvement will lead to a meaningful improvement in function. Both donepezil and rivastigmine improve cognition to the same effect, but donepezil is better tolerated . The largest and best-designed study of rivastigmine in dementia associated with PD involved 541 patients enrolled in a 24-week randomized, multicenter, double-blind clinical trial . The patients had a relatively mild dementia , with onset of dementia about 2 years after onset of PD symptoms. The mean ADAS-cog score, the primary efficacy variable, improved by 2.1 points in the rivastigmine group, compared to 0.7 in the placebo group , and the MMSE improved by 0.8 in the rivastigmine group and worsened by 0.2 in the placebo group . At the end of the study, 55.5% were receiving 9 to 12 mg. The adverse effects that were significantly more frequent in the rivastigmine group were nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and tremor.

Aan Releases Recommendations On Treatment Of Parkinsons Disease

Am Fam Physician. 2007 Mar 15 75:922-924.

Guideline source: American Academy of Neurology

Literature search described? Yes

Evidence rating system used? Yes

Available at:

Parkinsons disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease and is characterized by bradykinesia tremor at rest rigidity and abnormalities of balance, posture, and gait. Its etiology remains unknown in most patients. Recommendations from the Quality Standards Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology discuss the following aspects of this condition in a collection of articles in the April 2006 issue of Neurology: diagnosis and prognosis neuroprotective strategies and alternative therapies treatment and evaluation and treatment of depression, psychosis, and dementia in patients with Parkinsons disease.

Read Also: Does Sam Waterston Have Parkinsons

Limitations And Future Perspectives

The limitations of this review article are directly related to the limitations of the selected articles. Most articles used a small sample, so the results are not sufficiently reliable, and thus the authors propose that larger samples should be recruited for future studies . Another limitation is the patients knowledge of the applied therapy, so in many cases, the effect could have been due to the placebo effect and not to the technique itself.

In order to mitigate some of the effects or limitations of this review, we employed comprehensive search strategies to avoid biases in the information gathering process, making a critical assessment and synthesis of the studies. In addition, the data obtained were extremely heterogeneous because of the differences between the designs and therapies or rehabilitation interventions applied in the reviewed studies.

As research on this topic becomes more rigorous, further revisions will be required on interventions that have changed or improved over time. As dysphagia rehabilitation is a central aspect of the working of a speech-language therapist in many countries, this term speech-language therapy could be considered in future reviews and more articles can be retrieved in the search.