Parkinson’s disease, among all the problems it causes in patients, is also related to chronic pain, sometimes unbearable. But this aspect is very often overlooked. This is demonstrated by a study led by our University of Verona
The chronic painsometimes unbearable, is one of the most frequent consequences of Parkinson’s diseasebut very often it is neglected. This is demonstrated by a study guided by ours University of Verona.
Parkinson’s disease and its symptoms
As explained by our Higher Institute of Health (ISS)Parkinson’s disease is one neurodegenerative disease characterized by muscle rigidity And which resistant to passive and tremor movements that arises during the rest of rest, which in turn causes difficulty to start and end the movements.
In turn, these symptoms induce balance disordersclumsy gait and curved posture, sometimes joined a depressionalso as an indirect consequence of one’s state of health, and slowness in speaking.
On the latter symptom, a recent research has also focused shown how often they occur changes in language before characteristic symptomswhich is why some people with Early debut parkinson They could speak in a particular and different way than usual.
However, a very debilitating symptom is also chronic pain, which affects a very high percentage of patients, between 70 and 80%.
To date there is no definitive cure, but some treatments have proven effective to control and slow down the symptoms (without unfortunately being able to arrest the progression), aimed above all to restore dopamine levelswhich is now ascertained, gradually decrease starting from the onset of the pathology.
How widespread the Parkinson’s disease
The Italian Society of Neurology reports that the pathology is the according to neurodegenerative disorderin terms of frequency after the disease of Alzheimerand which in industrialized countries has anincidence of about 12/100000 people per yearwith a prevalence of about 2 million affected individuals.
The disease is slightly more frequent in the male sex than the female (60% vs 40%). And affects about 1% of the population over 60 years oldreaching 4% among the subjects over 85 years. But although the prevalence increases progressively with age, cases in which the disease manifests itself are not uncommon before the age of 50 and even before the age of 40 (Youth parkinson).
Chronic pain, a neglected symptom of Parkinson’s disease
The new study has revised the scientific literature on the disease, demonstrating how chronic pain is present in a disabling way in 70-80% of Parkinson’s disease patientsemerging from the initial stages and progressing with variable characteristics.
But it also highlighted that this is often overlooked in clinical practice since.
We highlighted how the management of chronic pain and other non -motor symptoms, such as fatigue, anxiety, depression and sleep disorders, be both frequently inadequate – explains Michele Tinazzi, who coordinated the research – This leads to a greater use of common analgesic drugslike non -steroid anti -inflammatory drugs, or even cannabinoids, despite missing a solid scientific evidence of their effectiveness in Parkinson’s disease
The work has also taken one step more significant in understanding the nature of this pain, distinguishing it between chronic pain related to disease and unrelated chronic pain. This distinction can facilitate the diagnosis and the choice of the most appropriate treatment to improve the quality of life of patients.
Every time we visit a patient with Parkinson’s disease, we cannot limit ourselves to evaluating the motor symptoms – concludes Marialuisa Gandolfi, co -author of the study – i Non -motor symptomsin particular pain, can influence even more negatively on daily life. Recognizing them early is essential to intervene in a targeted way
The work was published on The Lancet.
Sources: University of Verona Magazine / The Lancet
