One of the medication-induced movement disorders, consisting of a rapid, coarse tremor; muscular rigidity; masklike facies; or akinesia developing within a few weeks of starting or raising the dose of neuroleptic (antipsychotic) medication or of reducing medication used to treat extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS).
A neurological disorder characterized by rapid, coarse tremor, pill-rolling movements, masklike facies, cogwheel rigidity, drooling, akinesia, bradykinesia, or gait disturbances. Associated with dopamine depletion in the basal ganglia.
One of several neurological disorders manifesting in unnaturally slow or rigid movements.
A progressive nervous disorder, which may be an effect of some drugs, repeated head injuries or brain tumours. The main symptoms are trembling hands and a slow shuffling walk.
Slowly progressive neurological disorder characterized by resting tremor, shuffling gait, stooped posture, rolling motions of the fingers, drooling, and muscle weakness, sometimes with emotional instability. It most often occurs after the age of 60 and then its cause is unknown but it may occur in young people as a result of encephalitis, syphilis, or certain other diseases. Treatment is by levodopa, and occasionally, in severe cases, by surgery. Also called Parkinson’s disease.
A term referring to a group of disorders characterized by four primary symptoms: tremor, rigidity, postural instability, and slowness of movement. Parkinsonism also is the term usually used to describe the symptoms of Parkinson disease that are not caused by the degeneration of dopamine-producing cells in the brain; people with parkinsonism produce enough dopamine but do not seem to process it correctly. Strokes in the basal ganglia may damage nerve cells that use dopamine, resulting in parkinsonian symptoms, or parkinsonism.
A disorder of middle-aged and elderly people characterized by tremor, rigidity, and a poverty of spontaneous movements. The first and most prominent symptom is tremor, which often affects one hand, spreading first to the leg on the same side and then to the other limbs. It is most pronounced in resting limbs, interfering with such actions as holding a cup. The patient has an expressionless face, an unmodulated voice, and an increasing tendency to stoop (a shuffling run is needed to maintain balance). Parkinsonism is a disease affecting the basal ganglia of the brain for which in most cases no cause can be found. Uncommonly it can be attributed to the late effects of encephalitis or carbon monoxide poisoning or to Wilson’s disease. Relief of the symptoms may be obtained with anticholinergic drugs and levodopa.
Parkinsonism, or paralysis agitans, is a progressive disease of insidious onset usually occurring in the second half of life; it is much more common in men than in women. Degenerative changes in the basal ganglia lead to a deficiency in the neurotransmitter, dopamine or occasionally in other neurotransmitters and it is this deficiency that is responsible for most cases.
A neurological disorder in which a few but not all of the symptoms of Parkinson disease are present.
A cluster of disorders sharing a common set of characteristic symptoms, including tremors, stiffness, reduced mobility, and impaired balance and coordination.
Any neurological condition marked by tremors (often resembling a “pill-rolling” motion as the thumb rubs against the index finger), gradual movements, and stiffness. Other identifiable aspects of the parkinsonism disorder stem from the sluggishness of movement, encompassing attributes like a expressionless face, a shuffling gait, a monotone speech pattern, and diminished blinking. The prevalent form of parkinsonism is referred to as Parkinson’s disease.
Cerebrovascular issues (pertaining to brain blood vessels), the usage of antipsychotic medications, misuse of specific designer drugs, carbon monoxide poisoning, and, on rare occasions, the infection encephalitis lethargica constitute the recognized triggers for parkinsonism.
The state of experiencing Parkinson’s disease.