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(Parkinson's) Patients Say Loss of Balance is Most Troubling Symptom (AAN 2004) MD Virtual University E-Move Newsletter Monday, May 24, 2004 Issue 20 VOLUME 1 ISSUE 20 E-MOVE reports from the American Academy of Neurology, San Francisco April 25-30, 2004. Page (A), session (S) and poster (P) numbers are from Neurology 2004;62(7), Suppl 5 What symptoms are most troubling to patients with Parkinson’s disease? EA Malecki, CG Vaughan, KE Anderson, PS Fishman, SG Reich, WJ Weiner, LM Shulman P01.072, A50-51 Ninety-nine PD patients with mean Hoehn & Yahr stage of 2.2 completed a questionnaire regarding which symptoms were the most troubling, which they would target if they could design a drug, and which symptoms are not thought of as part of PD. Symptoms with a mean rating above 2 (on a scale of 1-3) included loss of balance, trouble speaking, loss of memory and confusion, unpredictable periods when symptoms worsen, slowness or shuffling while walking, loss of fine movement, and tremor. Symptoms chosen by at least 20% of patients to target for treatment included loss of balance (35%), tremor (35%), loss of memory and confusion (26%), and slowness or shuffling (25%). Symptoms not identified as part of PD included urinary problems (62%), “aching, uncontrollable sensations” (60%), anxiety (59%), sexual problems (57%), and constipation (57%). The authors noted, “Symptoms that threaten independence were identified as the most troubling symptoms…of note, most of these symptoms are poorly responsive to pharmacological agents.” SOURCE: WE MOVE http://tinyurl.com/yqu55 * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn