Parkinson's disease

Abstract

Parkinson's disease is the most common serious movement disorder in the world, affecting about 1% of adults older than 60 years. The disease is attributed to selective loss of neurons in the substantia nigra, and its cause is enigmatic in most individuals. Symptoms of Parkinson's disease respond in varying degrees to drugs, and surgery offers hope for patients no longer adequately controlled in this manner. The high prevalence of the disease, and important advances in its management, mean that generalists need to have a working knowledge of this disorder. This Seminar covers the basics, from terminology to aspects of diagnosis, treatment, and pathogenesis.

Revisiting oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in the pathogenesis of Parkinson disease—resemblance to the effect of amphetamine drugs of abuse

“…However, recent evidence indicates that nonͲ motor characteristics such as autonomic insufficiency, cognitive impairment, olfactory deficits, sleep disturbance, depression and psychosis are very common during the course of the disease. The clinical diagnosis of PD is typically based on the presence of cardinal motor features, absence of atypical findings suggestive of an alternate diagnosis and response to LevoͲ3,4Ͳdihydroxyphenylalanine (LͲDOPA) [2,21].…”

Nicotinic receptors as CNS targets for Parkinson's disease

“…[1][2][3][4]. There is a ≥70% decline in striatal dopamine and ≥50% loss of nigral dopaminergic neurons with the onset of clinical symptoms, which include bradykinesia, rigidity, and tremor [1][2][3][4].Although Parkinson's disease has primarily been considered a dopaminergic disorder, it is becoming increasingly clear that multiple CNS systems are involved in its pathogenesis [5][6][7]. Braak and coworkers have also identified Lewy bodies in numerous non-dopaminergic brain regions including the locus coeruleus, raphe nuclei, thalamus, amygdala, olfactory nuclei, pedunculopontine nucleus, and cerebral cortex [5,6].…”

Aging of perennial cells and organ parts according to the programmed aging paradigm

“…PD frequency is about 0.3 % in industrialized countries and increases from 1 % in individuals older than 60 to 4 % in the population older than 80 (de Lau and Breteler 2006), with a mean age of onset of around 60; however, in 5-10 % of cases, it begins before 50 years of age (Samii et al 2004).…”

“…Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), which is classified as a Parkinson-plus syndrome (Nuytemans et al 2010), is a primary parkinsonism with additional features (Samii et al 2004). In multiple system atrophy, a rare genetic disease, AS accumulates in oligodendrocytes (Sturm and Stefanova 2014).…”