How Parkinsonism Differs From Parkinsons Disease
Parkinsons disease is one of many types of parkinsonism. Its caused by a loss of cells in the part of your brain that produces the neurotransmitter dopamine.
Parkinsons disease and the different types of parkinsonism progress in different ways. Some may progress more rapidly than Parkinsons disease. Others, like secondary parkinsonism, may be reversible.
The conditions also respond differently to treatments. For instance, someone who has a type of parkinsonism may not respond to the drug levodopa, which is commonly used for Parkinsons disease.
It can be hard to tell the difference between types of parkinsonism. Heres a look at some of the identified categories of parkinsonism with their typical symptoms and treatments.
- involuntary muscle contractions
Treatment
No treatment has been found to slow the progression of corticobasal syndrome. Parkinsons drugs are generally ineffective but may help manage stiffness in some people.
What Is Parkinsons Disease
Parkinsons disease is a neurodegenerative brain disorder that progresses slowly in most people. Symptoms can take years to develop, and most people live for many years with the disease. The symptoms caused by Parkinsons include an ongoing loss of motor control as well as a wide range of non-motor symptoms .
What Is Huntingtons Disease
Huntington disease usually appears in a persons thirties or forties. Early signs and symptoms can include depression, irritability, poor coordination, small involuntary movements, and trouble learning new information or making decisions. Many people with Huntington disease develop involuntary, repetitive jerking movements known as chorea. As the disease, progresses symptoms become more pronounced. People with this disorder also experience changes in personality and decrease in thinking abilities. Affected individuals usually live about 15 to 20 years after signs and symptoms begin.
There is no care for this disorder, and it is largely determined genetically due to mutations in the HTT gene. The juvenile form of this disorder also exists. Chorea can be controlled with medicines. However, other higher function abnormalities are difficult to control.
Coronal section from an MR brain scan of a patient with HD.
Also Check: Can Essential Tremor Turn Into Parkinson’s
The Differences Between Alzheimer’s And Parkinson’s
16 October, 2020
Do you know the differences between Alzheimers and Parkinsons? First of all, we must say that both diseases constitute two of the causes of dementia. Now, lets be a bit more specific. According to data from the WHO , dementia due to Alzheimers disease represents 60-70% of all cases of dementia in the world.
However, its important to keep in mind that theyre very different diseases. Additionally, we must make clear that having either condition doesnt always lead to the development of dementia . In this sense, we know that between 20-60% of people with Parkinsons disease end up developing dementia.
Buter et al. conducted a study that was published in the journal Neurology. It was conducted with 233 patients with Parkinsons disease. The researchers were able to observe that about 60% of them developed Parkinsons dementia in a period of 12 years.
So whats dementia? It refers to the set of symptoms that arise as a consequence of neurological damage or disease. These symptoms involve the loss or weakening of the mental faculties and mainly affect three different areas: cognitive , behavioral , and personality .
The Purpose Of Clinical Diagnosis
The diagnosis of the parkinsonian syndromes is entirely clinical, as at the present time no imaging, biochemical, or genetic tests definitively diagnose or separate the different diseases. Diagnosis relies on taking a complete medical history that includes timeline of symptoms, recognition of the important clinical signs, and consideration of the differential diagnoses. Individuals diagnostic acumen is substantially influenced by clinical experience, and even among movement disorder specialists, the clinical diagnosis can change over time because of emerging clinical signs.
Don’t Miss: Uf Cmdnr
Who Was Diagnosed With Parkinsonism At The End Of His Life
The recent death of President George H.W. Bush, who had been diagnosed with vascular parkinsonism towards the end of his life, placed this disease in the media limelight. Generally, there is a lot of confusion about Parkinsons disease and parkinsonism and many of you have asked me to clarify this distinction. What is Parkinsonism?
Whats The Difference Between Progressive Supranuclear Palsy And Parkinsons
People with PSP generally progress more rapidly than people with Parkinsons. A person with Parkinsons tends to lean forward while a person with PSP tends to lean backward. Tremors are common in people with Parkinsons and rare in people with PSP. Speech and swallowing abnormalities are more severe and show up sooner in those living with PSP.
For more information on progressive supranuclear palsy, read this fact sheet and insights from the CurePSP organization website.
Read Also: Parkinson Disease Autosomal Dominant
Things To Look For On The Physical And Neurological Examination
Parkinsonism is the main feature of dementia with Lewy bodies that can be identified in the physical and neurological examination . The Parkinsonism is generally similar to age-matched, non-demented patients with Parkinson’s disease in overall severity, but shows greater symmetry, axial involvement, postural instability, and facial impassivity, and less tremor. It is important to keep in mind that a lack of Parkinsonism does not exclude the disorder, as up to 25% of autopsy-proven patients with dementia with Lewy bodies showed no clinical signs of Parkinsonism. Consistent with this finding is that the diagnostic guidelines do not require that Parkinsonism is present.
What Are The Symptoms Of Parkinsons Disease
Symptoms of Parkinsons disease and the rate of decline vary widely from person to person. The most common symptoms include:
Other symptoms include:
- Speech/vocal changes: Speech may be quick, become slurred or be soft in tone. You may hesitate before speaking. The pitch of your voice may become unchanged .
- Handwriting changes: You handwriting may become smaller and more difficult to read.
- Depression and anxiety.
- Sleeping disturbances including disrupted sleep, acting out your dreams, and restless leg syndrome.
- Pain, lack of interest , fatigue, change in weight, vision changes.
- Low blood pressure.
Don’t Miss: What Essential Oils Are Good For Parkinson’s Disease
Differences Between Alzheimers And Parkinsons
Were going to group the differences between both illnesses into different blocks and explain what each of them consists of. All of them have been extracted from two reference psychopathology manuals: Belloch, Sandín, and Ramos and the DSM-5 .
The first block of differences between Alzheimers and Parkinsons refers to their type of symptoms. Lets see what they are.
What Are The Symptoms Of Atypical Parkinsonian Disorders
Like classic Parkinsons disease, atypical Parkinsonian disorders cause muscle stiffness, tremor, and problems with walking/balance and fine motor coordination.
Patients with atypical Parkinsonism often have some degree of difficulty speaking or swallowing, and drooling can be a problem. Psychiatric disturbances such as agitation, anxiety or depression may also be part of the clinical picture.
Dementia with Lewy bodies can cause changes in attention or alertness over hours or days, often with long periods of sleep during the day. Visual hallucinations typically of small animals or children, or moving shadows in the periphery of the visual field are common in DLB. DLB is second only to Alzheimers disease as a cause of dementia in the elderly, and it most commonly affects patients in their 60s.
Patients with progressive supranuclear palsy may have difficulties with eye movements, particularly when looking downward, and with balance when descending stairs, for instance. Backward falls are common and may occur during the early course of the disease. PSP is not usually associated with tremor, unlike Parkinsons disease.
Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center
Recommended Reading: Parkinson’s Disease Ribbon Color
What Are The Surgical Treatments For Parkinsons Disease
Most patients with Parkinsons disease can maintain a good quality of life with medications. However, as the disease worsens, medications may no longer be effective in some patients. In these patients, the effectiveness of medications becomes unpredictable reducing symptoms during on periods and no longer controlling symptoms during off periods, which usually occur when the medication is wearing off and just before the next dose is to be taken. Sometimes these variations can be managed with changes in medications. However, sometimes they cant. Based on the type and severity of your symptoms, the failure of adjustments in your medications, the decline in your quality of life and your overall health, your doctor may discuss some of the available surgical options.
Parkinsonismdementia Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Complex
Parkinsonismdementia amyotrophic lateral sclerosis complex is a distinctive condition that occurs on the island of Guam and is locally known as LyticoBodig. It has been the focus of significant research because of the possibility of genetic and environmental causes. A study of more than 2000 affected and nonaffected individuals on Guam showed that the incidence of this disorder peaked in the 1950s and has gradually declined since that time. Early studies focusing on possible environmental dietary toxins were encouraging, but recent work has failed to identify a consistent agent. In this regard, over the past years, there is a growing interest on the role of neurotoxic cyanobacterial toxins. Pathologically, PDALS shows cell loss in the substantia nigra and several histological disturbances in the substantia nigra, anterior horn cells, and pyramidal tracts with neurofibrillary tangles.
Stanley Fahn MD, … Mark Hallett MD, in, 2011
Recommended Reading: Can Parkinson’s Run In The Family
Onset Of Als And Parkinsons
There are several different variants of ALS but it generally affects people between the age of 40 and 70. Juvenile onset ALS, however, can start in childhood or typically before the age of 25, although this form of ALS is particularly rare. The onset of ALS is estimated to be 20% more common in men compared with women and in 10% of cases there is likely to be a genetic component.
Parkinsons disease is usually diagnosed in people over the age of 60, though a small percentage exhibit the symptoms before the age of 50.
Once again, men are more likely to develop Parkinsons than women.
What Is Parkinson Disease
Parkinson disease is a movement disorder. It can cause the muscles to tighten and become rigid This makes it hard to walk and do other daily activities. People with Parkinsons disease also have tremors and may develop cognitive problems, including memory loss and dementia.
Parkinson disease is most common in people who are older than 50. The average age at which it occurs is 60. But some younger people may also get Parkinson disease. When it affects someone younger than age 50, it’s called early-onset Parkinson disease. You may be more likely to get early-onset Parkinson disease if someone in your family has it. The older you are, the greater your risk of developing Parkinson disease. It’s also much more common in men than in women.
Parkinson disease is a chronic and progressive disease. It doesn’t go away and continues to get worse over time.
Read Also: Parkinson Disease Dementia Life Expectancy
Link Between Parkinsons Disease And Als
Parkinsons disease and ALS are a lot more similar than you may think. The two neurological diseases share neurons that are highly sensitive to stress, misfolded proteins and reduced protein recycling, toxic proteins that spread from neuron to neuron, and neuroinflammation which is triggered by the immune system and aggravates the condition.
These commonalities between ALS and Parkinsons disease allow researchers to better hone in on more effective treatments for both diseases.
What Is Dementia
Dementia is a syndrome, not a specific disease. This means that the clinical features of dementia can result from any one of a large group of injuries, infections, or diseases. The symptoms of dementia can include one or more from a list that includes memory failure, diminished ability to keep multiple tasks in mind simultaneously and divide attention between them, problems with language comprehension or expression, trouble understanding spatial orientation, impaired executive function, and inaccurate decoding of others nonverbal cues.
Don’t Miss: Late Stages Of Parkinson’s Disease
Is There A Link
Some people have MS and Parkinsonâs, but it could be a coincidence.
Research suggests that the damage that MS causes to your brain can lead some people to develop Parkinsonâs later on.
If you have MS, your immune system triggers ongoing inflammation. This can create lesions in your brain that cause Parkinsonâs disease. If lesions form in certain spots in your brain, they can affect how it makes dopamine.
Key Difference Ms Vs Parkinsons
MS and Parkinsons disease are two diseases affecting the central nervous system. Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic autoimmune, T-cell mediated inflammatory disease affecting the central nervous system. On the other hand, Parkinsons disease is a movement disorder characterized by a decline in the dopamine level of the brain. Although MS is an autoimmune disorder, there is no immune component in the pathogenesis of Parkinsons disease. This is the key difference between MS and Parkinsons.
Recommended Reading: Dyskinesia Parkinson’s
What Is The Difference Between Parkinsonism And Pd
Parkinsonism is a clinical phenotype consisting of bradykinesia and rigidity. Resting tremor can be part of parkinsonism but is not necessarily present. Postural instability may also be present. Bradykinesia refers not just to a slowness of movements but to difficulty initiating movements with a characteristic diminishing amplitude to repetitive movements. Parkinsonian rigidity worsens when the patient is distracted. Parkinsonism can be caused by neuroleptic exposure , cerebrovascular disease, and other neurodegenerative conditions. PD is an idiopathic neurodegenerative disorder producing parkinsonism as its cardinal manifestation.
M.A. Thenganatt, J. Jankovic, in, 2016
Similarities Between Als And Parkinsons Disease
There are several similarities between these two diseases. Both affect neurons in the body and have a detrimental impact on the motor system, that is, how we move, speak, eat and breathe.
Individuals with ALS can often show Parkinson like symptoms, such as tremors, rigidity and slow movement. Beyond this, however, the ALS vs Parkinsons disease differences tend to be much starker than the similarities.
Don’t Miss: What Color Is The Ribbon For Parkinson’s
Mri Technique In Distinguishing Psp And Parkinsons Disease
A medical study was conducted on 10 patients who showed motor symptoms. All the 10 patients have Parkinsons and 5 patients were experiencing vertical supranuclear gaze palsy with increased imaging biomarker values and slowness in vertical saccades.
MRI was performed on these patients that included both MRPI and MRPI 2.0. The values showed different ranges between these patients and it also helped to identify the condition during the early stage of the symptoms.
Clinical variables assessed the motor functions and cognitive functions. Results were prepared based on the imaging biomarkers and clinical variables and it showed that disease progression was most severe in PSP when compared to Parkinsons disease.3,4
Also Read:
How Do I Prevent Falls From Common Hazards
- Floors: Remove all loose wires, cords, and throw rugs. Minimize clutter. Make sure rugs are anchored and smooth. Keep furniture in its usual place.
- Bathroom: Install grab bars and non-skid tape in the tub or shower. Use non-skid bath mats on the floor or install wall-to-wall carpeting.
- Lighting: Make sure halls, stairways, and entrances are well-lit. Install a night light in your bathroom or hallway and staircase. Turn lights on if you get up in the middle of the night. Make sure lamps or light switches are within reach of the bed if you have to get up during the night.
- Kitchen: Install non-skid rubber mats near the sink and stove. Clean spills immediately.
- Stairs: Make sure treads, rails, and rugs are secure. Install a rail on both sides of the stairs. If stairs are a threat, it might be helpful to arrange most of your activities on the lower level to reduce the number of times you must climb the stairs.
- Entrances and doorways: Install metal handles on the walls adjacent to the doorknobs of all doors to make it more secure as you travel through the doorway.
Don’t Miss: Parkinson Disease Inheritance
What Causes Parkinsons Disease
Parkinsons disease occurs when nerve cells in an area of the brain called the substantia nigra become impaired or die. These cells normally produce dopamine, a chemical that helps the cells of the brain communicate . When these nerve cells become impaired or die, they produce less dopamine. Dopamine is especially important for the operation of another area of the brain called the basal ganglia. This area of the brain is responsible for organizing the brains commands for body movement. The loss of dopamine causes the movement symptoms seen in people with Parkinsons disease.
People with Parkinsons disease also lose another neurotransmitter called norepinephrine. This chemical is needed for proper functioning of the sympathetic nervous system. This system controls some of the bodys autonomic functions such as digestion, heart rate, blood pressure and breathing. Loss of norepinephrine causes some of the non-movement-related symptoms of Parkinsons disease.
Scientists arent sure what causes the neurons that produce these neurotransmitter chemicals to die.
Depression With Huntingtons Disease
Due to the nature and lower life expectancy of Huntingtons disease, it is common for a diagnosis to lead to depression. Patients with Huntingtons are at a higher risk of suicide.
If you are struggling with your Huntingtons diagnosis or prognosis, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Helpline online or call 1-800-662-4357 to seek help.
For more mental health resources, including a helpful list of links and hotline numbers, see our National Helpline Database.
Read Also: Is Parkinson’s Disease Fatal