Non-Motor Symptoms in Patients with Primary Dystonia

Abstract

Isolated dystonia, previously referred to as primary, is the third most common movement disorder, characterized by involuntary muscle contractions causing abnormal movements and postures with or without the presence of tremor. No matter monogenic or sporadic, the form of dystonia is a growing evidence, suggesting the presence of non-motor components to the disorder. Dystonia patients suffer from reduced quality of life, which might be related not only to the dystonic movements itself but to different non-motor symptoms and signs, as well. Based on literature review, this chapter aims to focus on the association of different types of isolated/primary dystonia (forms of focal, segmental, and generalized dystonia) with some non-motor disorders, including sleep and psychiatric disorders, cognition, as though as pain and sensory symptoms, their pathophysiological and biochemical mechanisms, relations with the symptomatic treating strategies for the abnormal movements, and specific treatment for the non-motor signs.

Psychiatric Symptoms in Women with Focal Cervical Dystonia - Exploring New Pathophysiological Pathways

“…A growing body of evidence supporting this premise are in the reports that show that anxiety and social anxiety severity vary by onset site of focal dystonia, and this variation is not explained by differences in pain and dystonia severity [34,35]. There are other facts suggesting psychiatric symptoms as an intrinsic factor for cervical dystonia-some genetic forms of dystonia (such as myoclonus dystonia with D4T11 mutation) show greater frequency of concomitant anxiety than in other forms of cervical dystonia without the mutation [36]. Also, some other illnesses bearing much greater stigma on overall appearance (such as alopecia) in comparison to motor symptoms in cervical dystonia paradoxically show much less occurrence of anxiety [37].…”