BACKGROUND This study describes orthostatic and postprandial hypotension in elderly Parkinsonian patients and evaluates the effect of levodopa therapy on orthostatic and postprandial hypotension in these patients. METHODS Seventeen elderly patients with a clinical diagnosis of Parkinson's disease or Parkinsonism based on the U.K. Parkinson's Disease Society Brain Bank criteria (age range, 66-...

OBJECTIVE Diabetic patients with incapacitating orthostatic hypotension can have either a "hyperadrenergic" or "hypoadrenergic" presentation. Although the latter is related to overt autonomic neuropathy, the former is proposed to be explained by appropriate autonomic responses. We hypothesize, however, that both conditions are part of a spectrum of autonomic dysfunction. RESEARCH DESIGN AND M...

Neurogenic orthostatic hypotension (NOH) is a debilitating condition associated with many central and peripheral neurological disorders. It has a complex pathophysiology and variable clinical presentation, which makes diagnosis and treatment difficult. Neurogenic orthostatic hypotension is often confused with other disorders of orthostatic intolerance, hypovolemic states and systemic conditions...

OBJECTIVES To determine the prognostic role of orthostatic hypotension for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality in elderly people. DESIGN Prospective study. SETTING Community based. PARTICIPANTS Five thousand sixty-four subjects from the Rotterdam study aged 55 and older. MEASUREMENTS Orthostatic hypotension was measured using a Dinamap automatic blood pressure recorder....

BACKGROUND   Of the many possible factors that may contribute to orthostatic intolerance, the loss of circulating blood because of capillary filtration is one of the few that can explain the gradual decline of arterial pressure during stand tests. This study used a computer model to investigate the relative importance of haemodynamic parameters, including capillary filtration, as potential cont...

Orthostatic hypotension is defined as a blood pressure fall of > 20 mm Hg systolic and/or 10 mm Hg diastolic within 3 minutes of an upright position. The Movement Disorders Society commissioned a task force to assess existing clinical rating scales addressing symptoms of orthostatic hypotension in Parkinson's disease. Seven neurologists and a clinimetrician assessed each scale's previous use an...

Orthostatic hypotension is defined as a decrease in systolic blood pressure of 20 mm Hg or a decrease in diastolic blood pressure of 10 mm Hg within three minutes of standing when compared with blood pressure from the sitting or supine position. It results from an inadequate physiologic response to postural changes in blood pressure. Orthostatic hypotension may be acute or chronic, as well as s...

OBJECTIVES The study investigated the clinical significance and mechanism of orthostatic blood pressure (BP) dysregulation in elderly hypertensive patients. BACKGROUND Although orthostatic hypotension (OHYPO), often found in elderly hypertensive patients, has been recognized as a risk factor for syncope and cardiovascular disease, both the clinical significance and the mechanism of orthostati...

Patients with POTS (postural tachycardia syndrome) have excessive orthostatic tachycardia (>30 beats/min) when standing from a supine position. HR (heart rate) and BP (blood pressure) are known to exhibit diurnal variability, but the role of diurnal variability in orthostatic changes of HR and BP is not known. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that there is diurnal variation of ort...

UNLABELLED Splanchnic venous pooling is a major hemodynamic determinant of orthostatic hypotension, but is not specifically targeted by pressor agents, the mainstay of treatment. We developed an automated inflatable abdominal binder that provides sustained servo-controlled venous compression (40 mm Hg) and can be activated only on standing. We tested the efficacy of this device against placebo ...