Benefit on motor and non-motor behavior in a specialized unit for Parkinson’s disease

Abstract

Treatment of patients with Parkinson's disease in specialized units is quite common in Germany. Data on the benefit of this hospitalization of patients with Parkinson's disease on motor and non-motor symptoms in conjunction with standardized tests are rare. Objective was to determine the efficacy of this therapeutic setting. We scored disease severity and performed clinical tests, respectively, instrumental procedures under standardized conditions in consecutively referred in-patients initially and at the end of their hospital stay. There was a decrease of motor and non-motor symptoms. The extent of improvement of non-motor and motor symptoms correlated to each other. Performance of complex movement sequences became better, whereas execution of simple movement series did not ameliorate. The interval for the timed up and go test went down. We demonstrate the effectiveness of an in-patient stay in a specialized unit for Parkinson's disease. Objective standardized testing supplements subjective clinical scoring with established rating scales.

Specialized Staff for the Care of People with Parkinson’s Disease in Germany: An Overview

“…An important factor here is specialized outpatient and inpatient medical care as well as the well-coordinated trans-sectoral transition from hospitalized inpatient to outpatient to homecare, and vice versa [ 3 ]. Patients with PD need continuous specialized outpatient care, which can be supplemented by more intensive inpatient treatment (such as PD multimodal complex treatment (PD-MCT), PD day clinic, telemedicine) if necessary [ 4 , 5 , 6 ]. Frequently, PD patients also must consult emergency care at local hospitals [ 7 , 8 ].…”

Levodopa improves handwriting and instrumental tasks in previously treated patients with Parkinson’s disease

“…Particularly tremor reduces the precision of aimed movements, whereas bradykinesia and rigidity support delay or failure to initiate a willed movement and slowness of an ongoing motion sequence (Lalonde and Botez-Marquard 1997 ; Haaland et al 2004 ). This triad of main cardinal motor symptoms in PD patients influences instrumentally assessed execution of complex movement series (Müller et al 2017 ). They are sensitive to dopamine substitution in PD patients, as it has been shown with the peg insertion paradigm, which resembles the rather popular, simpler purdue pegboard task (Müller et al 2005 ).…”

“…The execution of instrumental tests in combination with a rating procedure may provide additional useful information on the functioning and the impairment of the individual PD patient in particular when patients are tested off and on medication to evaluate the dopaminergic response (Gelb et al 1999 ). The objective was to determine whether outcomes of aforementioned instrumental tests and a standardized writing task may reflect the dopaminergic response similar to the improvement of clinical rating scale scores following levodopa/benserazide application (Müller et al 2002 , 2003 , 2017 ).

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Study on antrodia camphorata polysaccharide in alleviating the neuroethology of PD mice by decreasing the expression of NLRP3 inflammasome

“…Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease characterized by the absence of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra and the deposition of Lewy bodies in neurons. The clinical manifestations of PD include bradykinesia, static tremor, muscle stiffness, and gait abnormalities, which seriously endanger the daily life of patients (Ansari, Rahmani, Dolatshahi, Pooyan, & Aarabi, ; Müller et al, ). The pathological changes of cerebral α‐synuclein aggregation of PD could lead to slow, progressive loss and degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra compact (SNc) region.…”