Beyond cardiovascular ailments, sympathetic dysfunction has been associated with kidney disease, type II diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome and even Parkinson's disease.
"Everyone thinks about Parkinson's disease in terms of its motor symptoms, but these autonomic symptoms actually appear long before," said Dr. Marina Emborg, director of the Preclinical Parkinson's Research Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Changes in sympathetic nervous activity are evident in the skin, pupils and especially the heart.
"Some patients [with Parkinson's] describe that they are more tired or have fatigue, but really, problems in the heart contribute to these overall symptoms," Emborg told Live Science.
Coffee could lessen the symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
DO YOU REALLY HAVE PD?
Zishenpingchan: Never heard of the stuff, but worth a look?
BREAKTHROUGH I've been waiting YEARS for!
