scholarly journals Writers Are Common among Parkinson’s Disease Patients: A Longitudinal Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Anna Aasly ◽  
Jan O. Aasly

Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients may have a specific personality profile, which includes being introvert, cautious and devoted to hard work. The evaluation of psychological characteristics must be evaluated according to methods for assessments of personality disorders. Such evaluations are often time-consuming and available only in research settings. The “parkinsonian trait” may be established early in life but may change with disease progression. To overcome this long interval before onset of PD questions on literary activities were included in the medical record. Three percent of PD patients could be defined as writers, significantly higher than observed in the general population. PD writers published their first books long before onset of disease. Being a writer is an extrovert trait meaning that the patient is prepared for criticism and publicity. We suggest that questions regarding personal activities prior to disease onset add valuable information on personality which differs significantly from traits observed later in the disease period.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Klara Komici ◽  
Grazia Daniela Femminella ◽  
Leonardo Bencivenga ◽  
Giuseppe Rengo ◽  
Gennaro Pagano

Background: A link between diabetes mellitus (DM) and Parkinson’s disease (PD) have been proposed but evidence are sparse and inconsistent. Objective: Perform a systematic review of all evidence that link DM and PD characterising the prevalence of DM in PD patients, the risk of developing PD in DM patients and the influence of DM on PD severity and progression. Methods: MEDLINE, Scopus, and Cochrane Library from inception to June 30, 2021 were searched. Studies reporting prevalence, incidence, severity and disease progression of DM and PD were included. Prevalence of DM in PD and incidence of PD in DM patients, and characteristics of PD. Results: A total of 21 studies (n = 11,396) included data on DM prevalence in PD patients, 12 studies (n = 17,797,221) included data on incidence of PD in DM patients, and 10 studies (n = 2,482) included data on DM impact on PD severity and disease progression. The prevalence of DM in PD patients was 10.02 %, (95%C.I. 7.88 –12.16), DM patients showed a higher risk of developing PD (OR: 1.34 95%CI 1.26–1.43 p <  0.0001) compared to non-DM, and PD patients with DM showed a greater severity of motor symptoms, with higher Hoehn and Yahr stage (SMD: 0.36 95%CI 0.12–0.60; p <  0.001) and higher UPDRS (SMD 0.60 95%CI 0.28–0.92; p <  0.001) compared with PD patients without DM. Conclusion: Although the prevalence of DM in PD patients is similar to the general population, patients with DM have a higher risk of developing PD, and the presence of DM is associated with greater PD severity and faster progression, which suggests that DM may be a facilitating factor of neurodegeneration.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Marco Cotogni ◽  
Lucia Sacchi ◽  
Aleksander Sadikov ◽  
Dejan Georgiev

Background: Even though a significant fraction of Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients presents with only minor or no motor asymmetry, the motor symptoms in PD typically start on one side of the body and worse symptoms on the side of the disease onset usually persist long after the disease has become clinically bilateral. The asymmetric presentation of PD has been studied over the years, with some studies showing slower progression in PD subjects with asymmetric disease presentation. In other studies, however, it was not possible to relate the asymmetry to disease progression. Objective: The main objective of the present study was to assess the effect of asymmetry at disease onset on disease progression. Methods: Using the data available in the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) database, at baseline, 423 subjects with de-novo PD were included in the study. Instead of dichotomizing the subjects in asymmetric and symmetric, we kept the asymmetry index and the non-motor, disability, and motor progression at one-, three-, and five-year follow-up continuous. Linear regression was used to correlate asymmetry indices and disease progression. Results: There was no correlation between neither clinically, nor DatSCAN defined asymmetry and non-motor, motor, and disability progression in the de-novo PD subjects with a 5-year follow-up. Conclusion: Asymmetry does not predict progression of PD. Further studies are needed to investigate whether early detection of asymmetry on clinical grounds could successfully distinguish between PD and symmetric types of atypical parkinsonism in the early stages of the disease.


2021 ◽  
Vol 81 ◽  
pp. 307-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudio Liguori ◽  
Valentino De Franco ◽  
Rocco Cerroni ◽  
Matteo Spanetta ◽  
Nicola Biagio Mercuri ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Velma T. E. Aho ◽  
Madelyn C. Houser ◽  
Pedro A. B. Pereira ◽  
Jianjun Chang ◽  
Knut Rudi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Previous studies have reported that gut microbiota, permeability, short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and inflammation are altered in Parkinson’s disease (PD), but how these factors are linked and how they contribute to disease processes and symptoms remains uncertain. This study sought to compare and identify associations among these factors in PD patients and controls to elucidate their interrelations and links to clinical manifestations of PD. Methods Stool and plasma samples and clinical data were collected from 55 PD patients and 56 controls. Levels of stool SCFAs and stool and plasma inflammatory and permeability markers were compared between patients and controls and related to one another and to the gut microbiota. Results Calprotectin was increased and SCFAs decreased in stool in PD in a sex-dependent manner. Inflammatory markers in plasma and stool were neither intercorrelated nor strongly associated with SCFA levels. Age at PD onset was positively correlated with SCFAs and negatively correlated with CXCL8 and IL-1β in stool. Fecal zonulin correlated positively with fecal NGAL and negatively with PD motor and non-motor symptoms. Microbiota diversity and composition were linked to levels of SCFAs, inflammatory factors, and zonulin in stool. Certain relationships differed between patients and controls and by sex. Conclusions Intestinal inflammatory responses and reductions in fecal SCFAs occur in PD, are related to the microbiota and to disease onset, and are not reflected in plasma inflammatory profiles. Some of these relationships are distinct in PD and are sex-dependent. This study revealed potential alterations in microbiota-host interactions and links between earlier PD onset and intestinal inflammatory responses and reduced SCFA levels, highlighting candidate molecules and pathways which may contribute to PD pathogenesis and clinical presentation and which warrant further investigation.


2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 942-951 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison C. Simioni ◽  
Alain Dagher ◽  
Lesley K. Fellows

AbstractConverging evidence, including observations in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), suggests that dopamine plays a role in impulsivity. This multi-faceted construct includes considerations of both time and risk; determining how these more specific processes are affected by PD and dopaminergic treatment can inform neurobiological models. We examined the effects of PD and its treatment on temporal discounting and risky decision-making in a cohort of 23 mild-moderate PD patients and 20 healthy participants. Patients completed the Balloon Analogue Risk Task and a temporal discounting paradigm both on and off their usual dopamine replacement therapy. PD patients did not differ from controls in their initial risk-taking on the Balloon Analogue Risk Task, but took progressively more risks across trials when on medication. A subset of patients and controls was tested again, 1.5–3 years later, to explore the effects of disease progression. On follow-up, baseline risk-taking diminished in patients, but the tendency to take increasing risks across trials persisted. Neither disease progression nor its treatment affected the temporal discounting rate. These findings suggest a different neural basis for temporal discounting and risk-taking, and demonstrate that risk-taking can be further decomposed into initial and trial-by-trial effects, with dopamine affecting only the latter. (JINS, 2012, 18, 1–10)


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