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>Hmm so whats new :) The only drug I take for PD so far (5 years) is benztropine, an anticholinergic. I lose my balance sometimes when people hug me but I've never actually fallen. > >-----Original Message----- >From: Parkinson's Information Exchange Network >[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of mschild >Sent: Thursday, December 17, 2009 10:00 AM >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Falls in PD Correlate with Cholinergic, not Dopaminergic, >Dysfunction > > > >Loss of cholinergic function predicts falling in Parkinson's disease, >according to a new study, independent of dopaminergic denervation. > >Seventeen PD patients with a history of falls, 27 PD patients without such >history, and 15 controls underwent radioimaging with tracers for cholinergic > >and dopaminergic activity. Both PD groups had reduced dopaminergic function >compared to controls, but were not significantly different from each other. >Compared to controls, combined cortical and thalamic cholinergic function >was >reduced in PD non-fallers (-6.6%) and was even worse in fallers (-12.3%). >The >same pattern held true for cortical function alone. In contrast, thalamic >cholinergic function was reduced compared to controls only in fallers. > >"Thalamic acetylcholinesterase activity derives mainly from terminals of >brainstem pedunculopontine nucleus neurons that play a role in the >generation >of movement," the authors state, "and loss of AChE is likely to reflect PPN >neuron dysfunction or degeneration. Our results are consistent with a key >role >for the PPN in the maintenance of balance in humans and with PPN >dysfunction/degeneration as a cause of impaired postural control and gait in > >PD." They suggest that cholinergic therapy may have a role to play in >treatment of gait disorder in PD, but "it is uncertain whether the current >generation of cholinesterase inhibitors have sufficient brain penetrance to >produce meaningful clinical benefits." > >History of falls in Parkinson disease is associated with reduced cholinergic > >activity >NI Bohnen, MLTM Muller, RA Koeppe, SA studenski, MA Kilbourn, KA Frey, RL >Albin >Neurology 2009;73:1670-1676 > >---------------------------------------------------------------------- >To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] >In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > >---------------------------------------------------------------------- >To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] >In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn -- Steve in VT ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn