Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Parkinsonism overview
Introduction
Overview
Overview
Parkinsonism is a neurological syndrome characterized by tremor, hypokinesia, rigidity, and postural instability.[1] The underlying causes of parkinsonism are numerous, and diagnosis can be complex.[2] While the neurodegenerative condition Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the most common cause of parkinsonism, a wide-range of other etiologies can lead to a similar set of symptoms, including some toxins, a few metabolic diseases, and a handful of non-PD neurological conditions.[3] Its most common cause is as a side effect of medications, mainly neuroleptic antipsychotics especially the phenothiazines (such as perphenazine and chlorpromazine), thioxanthenes (such as flupenthixol and zuclopenthixol) and butyrophenones (such as haloperidol (Haldol)), piperazines (such as ziprasidone), and rarely, antidepressants.
References
References
- ↑ Aminoff MJ, Greenberg DA, Simon RP (2005). Clinical Neurology (6th ed. ed.). Lange: McGraw-Hill Medical. pp. 241&ndash, 5. ISBN 0071423605.
- ↑ Tuite PJ, Krawczewski K (2007). “Parkinsonism: a review-of-systems approach to diagnosis”. Seminars in neurology. 27 (2): 113–22. doi:10.1055/s-2007-971174. PMID 17390256.
- ↑ Christine CW, Aminoff MJ (2004). “Clinical differentiation of parkinsonian syndromes: prognostic and therapeutic relevance”. Am. J. Med. 117 (6): 412–9. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2004.03.032. PMID 15380498.
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]