Possible link between Schizophrenia and Parkinson's

[pdpatient]

This is a very good article about the possible link:

neurosciencenews.com/schizo...

RKM

[park_bear]

movementdisorders.onlinelib...

"In PD patients, the prevalence of earlier schizophrenia spectrum disorder was 0.76% in regional data and 1.50% in nationwide data. In age‐matched controls, the prevalence in the regional and national data was 0.16% and 1.31%, respectively. The odds ratio for PD after schizophrenia spectrum disorder diagnosis was 4.63 (95% CI, 1.76–12.19; P < 0.01) in the regional data and 1.17 (95% CI, 1.04–1.31; P < 0.01) in the national data. "

The regional data was a small sample which only ended up with 23 patients with both conditions. The national data was a much larger sample and ended up with an odds ratio of only 1.17. They had to include "schizophrenia spectrum disorders". Limiting the sample to just straight schizophrenia was not stat sig.

In plain English their data was weak.

[Ep0522 in reply to park_bear]

This is very concerning to me, as my husband has been treated for years for schizophrenia and no doctors. m

[pdpatient in reply to Ep0522]

@esther51, I would like to suggest that you please take your husband to a MDS asap.

RKM

[Ep0522 in reply to park_bear]

Sorry. I. Have tremors and didn’t complete:: no doctor seem to see his Parkinsonism symptoms. I see it because I have Parkinson’s.

[park_bear in reply to Ep0522]

The above study is about the correlation between actual Parkinson's and schizophrenia, which is different than drug-induced parkinsonism.

Regarding drug-induced parkinsonism, your experience with MDs apparently is not unusual:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

" Additionally, DIP [Drug-induced parkinsonism] is frequently overlooked and its clinical course is not well understood because the majority of cases are caused by drugs prescribed by departments outside of neurology. Therefore, we aimed to examine the clinical course of DIP."

Continuing with excerpts from this study:

" DIP is particularly burdensome for the elderly and its management includes the recognition of symptoms and identification of risk factors and offending agents. Prompt discontinuation of the causative agent often leads to marked improvement..."

The authors reviewed 21 cases of DIP and det forth the results in this table:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

" drugs included tiapride, metoclopramide, maprotiline, haloperidol, and risperidone ... All causative drugs were prescribed in departments that did not specialize in neurology, with a large portion prescribed by psychiatric departments... After withdrawal of the causative medication, 15 of the patients (71%) were once again able to walk at home, but three were wheelchair bound and one died from malignant syndrome... It is possible that these medications are being prescribed by physicians with a minimal understanding of their dangerous side effects; therefore, more attention from the prescribing physician is required."

For further detail I recommend reading the entire study.

If your husband's drug-induced parkinsonism is causing noticeable impairment, action from his MD is definitely in order. If your verbal expressions of concern are being ignored, a new doctor would be ideal, with the upfront understanding that you want your husband's drug-induced parkinsonism attended to. If switching MDs is not possible, consider a written demand to the existing M.D. that this be attended to.

[pdpatient in reply to park_bear]

Thanks for the detailed information and response, @park_bear.

RKM

[Ep0522 in reply to park_bear]

Thank you park-bear for the information. I was a little confused about the above study and the DIP.He has a psychiatrist appointment this week. I will start there. I can involve my MD if necessary.

[G-Pixie]

I thought it had long been recognised that long-term use of Schizo meds causes Parkinsonism. This was certainly the case with my dad. Search 'drug-induced Parkinsonism'. Please put me right if this is not the case. x

[park_bear in reply to G-Pixie]

Yes you are quite correct. However, this study is about the correlation between actual Parkinson's and schizophrenia which is a different matter.