The efficacy of LSVT-BIG for advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with wearing off remains to be determined. Therefore, we evaluated whether LSVT-BIG improves motor disability in eight PD patients with wearing off. Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) scores, daily off time, and mobility assessments were evaluated during the "on" time before and after the LSVT-BIG course. LSVT...

Levodopa use in fluctuating Parkinson's disease (PD) is complicated by an inconsistent and prolonged onset to clinical improvement. An orally dissolved carbidopa/levodopa (OD C/L) preparation (Parcopa UCB Pharma) is available in the United States. This offers potential advantages to shorten the duration from ingestion to clinical improvement. Surprisingly, this has never been clinically assesse...

Objective. The concept of forced exercise has drawn attention for the treatment of Parkinson's disease symptoms with anecdotal reports of success. This study sought to ascertain any significant effect of forced exercise using a motorized stationary bicycle when compared to controls on Parkinson's disease symptoms in a blinded, randomized, and controlled setting. Setting. Parkinson's disease out...

OBJECTIVE For patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), driving is challenging due to an impaired motor function and decreased attention capabilities. This study assessed the driving capacity in PD patients by comparing neurological signs. METHODS The driving ability of PD patients was evaluated using a driving simulator (Safety Master NT-932) that tested the reaction time in response to traffi...

Administering items or subscales separately from the measure for which they were designed to be a part may have unintended consequences for research and practice in Parkinson's disease (PD). The current study tested the equivalence of the bradykinesia subscale when administered alone versus as a component of the full 14-item Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) motor examination, as...

Parkinson's disease (PD) is slowly progressive, and heterogeneity of its severity among individuals may be due to endogenous mechanisms that counterbalance the striatal dopamine loss. In this perspective paper, we introduce a neuroimaging-genetic approach to identify genetic variants, which may contribute to this compensation. First, we briefly review current known potential compensatory mechan...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of pallidotomy on postural reactions and other motor parkinsonian deficits. DESIGN Comparison of performance by patients before and after pallidotomy on tests of balance and function. SETTING A Parkinson disease Center of Excellence and Center for Human Performance Testing at a university hospital and research center. PARTICIPANTS Twenty-nine patients ...

The Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) is a widely applied index of disease severity. Our objective was to assess the utility of UPDRS for predicting peak aerobic capacity (VO2 peak) and ambulatory function. Participants (n = 70) underwent evaluation for UPDRS (Total and Motor ratings), VO2 peak, 6-minute walk distance (6MW), and 30-foot self-selected walking speed (SSWS). Using r...

OBJECTIVE To study the long-term effects of deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the bilateral subthalamic nucleus (STN) on depression in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and to discuss the mechanism. METHODS A STN-DBS group (n = 27) and anti-Parkinson's medication control group with paired designing were set up. The evaluation of the depression and motor function was performed a total of si...

Parkinson's disease (PD) is frequently compounded by neuropsychiatric complications, increasing disability. The combined effect of motor and mental status on care-dependency in PD outpatients is not well characterized. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 1449 PD outpatients. The assessment comprised the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and the diagnostic criteria for dement...