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Abstract The effects of Parkinson’s disease on movement the muscle stiffness the slowness of movement and the tremo¢are well known to individuals with Parkinson’s disease and their families. The potential effects of Parkinson’s disease on mental functioning depression and memory impairment are less well known but still familiar to many. What has received little attention and is therefore, often unknown and unrecognized is the possible involvement of the autonomic-nervous system In Parkinson’s disease. The aim of this work was to study the autonomic nervous system dysfunction in Parkinsonian patients, and to correlate them to the different stages of the disease according to Webster’s rating scale. 52 PO patients were subjected to a thorough general medical and neurological examination in addition to: • Webster’s rating scale and the autonomic division of the investigator rating scale. • Cardiovascular tests. • Urodynamic study • Serum norepinephrine assessment and other laboratory tests including blood sugar and urine analysis. 150 The results were compared to those obtained from 20 age and sex matched healthy individuals and revealed that: • The frequency of autonomic symptoms in PO patients was significantly higher than in controls • On all cardiovascular tests PO patients performing worse than controls In both groups age exerts a moderate influence on HR and BP, the difference in relation to age was only significant in standing up test for HR • The severity of PO had a consistently detrimental effect on autonomic function, which reached significance for two of the three HR tests and for the BP hall on standing. 0.- • Urodynamic studies re-veled that PO patient who had abnormal findings had more disease severity according to Webster’ scale. higher scores on investigation scale, and longer duration of than those with normal urodynamic findings • Resting plasma norepinephrine concentrations were similar In PO patients and controls, However a diminished rise In NE during the orthostatic procedure was reported in the severely diseased group In comparison to the mildly diseased group who had a response almost identical to controls 151 According to the results PO patients suffered more autonomic dysfunction than their matched controls. Furthermore the cardiovascular responses and norepmephrine levels alternation on standing were positively related to the severity and duration of illness, this supports the hypothesis that autonomic dysfunction in PO caused by the extension of the disease process (Lewy bodies) to autonomic structure, rather than the mere effect of normal aging process So we recommend the use of simple clinical, physiological and laboratory tests to detect autonomic dysfunction in early PO, which may help in confirming the diagnosis, adjusting the treatment regimen and forecasting the prognosis for those patients. |