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Chapter 12 - Autonomic Dysfunction in Parkinson’s Disease

from Section 2: - Hypokinetic Movement Disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2025

By
Alexandra Boogers ,
Valentina Leta ,
Vanessa Raeder  and
K. Ray Chaudhuri
Edited by
Erik Ch. Wolters  and
Christian R. Baumann
Erik Ch. Wolters
Affiliation:
Universität Zürich
Christian R. Baumann
Affiliation:
Universität Zürich
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Summary

People with Parkinson’s disease (PD) often suffer from various non-motor symptoms, including manifestations of autonomic dysfunction. The latter encompass cardiovascular, urogenital, gastrointestinal manifestations, sexual dysfunction and thermoregulatory disturbances. Autonomic manifestations can be an intrinsic aspect of PD, resulting from degeneration of parasympathetic and sympathetic pathways, or can be secondary to comorbidity or medication intake. As autonomic dysfunction is prevalent and often troublesome, identification and appropriate treatment are relevant steps in the management of people with Parkinson’s disease. Some manifestations of this autonomic dysfunction may precede the onset of PD motor features by many years, and might be considered biomarkers of this disease. A variety of non-pharmacologic and pharmacologic treatments have been investigated for the treatment of autonomic dysfunction in PD, but a limited evidence base is available so far.

Keywords

Parkinson’s diseasenon-motor symptomsautonomic dysfunctioncardiovascular dysfunctionurinary dysfunctionsexual dysfunctiongastrointestinal dysfunctionthermoregulatory dysfunctiondrug-induced autonomic dysfunctionautonomic non-motor fluctuations
Type
Chapter
Information
International Compendium of Movement Disorders , pp. 145 - 154
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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