Prevalence and pharmacological factors associated with impulse-control disorder symptoms in patients with Parkinson disease.

Background: Impulse-control disorders (ICDs) occur in patients with Parkinson disease (PD), especially in younger patients on dopamine therapies.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of ICD symptoms and its pharmacological correlations in a sample of French patients with PD and without PD (poststroke).

Methods: Outpatients with PD and without PD (poststroke) were screened for compulsive behaviors related to hypersexuality, compulsive shopping, pathological gambling, or compulsive eating by means of the Questionnaire for Impulse-Control Disorders--short version.

Factors related to orthostatic hypotension in Parkinson's disease.

Introduction: Orthostatic hypotension (OH), a frequent feature of Parkinson's disease (PD) can contribute to falls and is usually related to the disease itself and/or to drugs.

Objectives: To explore factors related to OH and to assess the concordance between abnormal blood pressure (BP) fall after standing and the presence of orthostatic symptoms.

Methods: Non-demented, non-operated idiopathic PD out-patients were questioned about the presence of orthostatic symptoms.

Do Parkinson's disease patients disclose their adverse events spontaneously?

Background: Underreporting of adverse drug reactions is common but has been rarely studied in Parkinson's disease (PD).

Objective: To compare the prevalence of adverse events (AEs) in relation to antiparkinsonian drugs in PD patients using two different data collection methods: patient's spontaneous reporting versus a predefined investigator-driven structured interview. Secondary objectives were to assess factors related to spontaneous reporting and to compare the rate of AE reporting in PD patients with that of a group of non-parkinsonian post-stroke patients.

Effect of levodopa on pain threshold in Parkinson's disease: a clinical and positron emission tomography study.

Patients suffering from Parkinson's disease (PD) frequently experienced painful sensations that could be in part due to central modification of nociception. We compared pain threshold before and after administration of levodopa in PD patients and in controls, and investigated cerebral activity with positron emission tomography (PET) during experimental nociceptive stimulation. Pain threshold was determined using thermal stimulation during two randomized conditions: off and on.

Development and validation of the Unified Multiple System Atrophy Rating Scale (UMSARS).

We aimed to develop and validate a novel rating scale for multiple system atrophy (Unified Multiple System Atrophy Rating Scale-UMSARS). The scale comprises the following components: Part I, historical, 12 items; Part II, motor examination, 14 items; Part III, autonomic examination; and Part IV, global disability scale. For validation purposes, 40 MSA patients were assessed in four centers by 4 raters per center (2 senior and 2 junior raters).

Limitations of current Parkinson's disease therapy.

Levodopa and other dopaminergic medications drastically improve the motor symptoms and quality of life of patients with Parkinson's disease in the early stages of the disease. However, once the "honeymoon" period has waned, usually after a few years of dopaminergic therapy, patients become progressively more disabled despite an ever more complex combination of available antiparkinsonian treatments. Sooner or later, they suffer from "dopa-resistant" motor symptoms (speech impairment, abnormal posture, gait and balance problems), "dopa-resistant" nonmotor signs (autonomic dysfunction, mood and cognitive impairment, sleep problems, pain) and/or drug-related side effects (especially psychosis, motor fluctuations, and dyskinesias).