In PwP, weight loss, weight gain, and no significant change in weight
represent a subgrouping. For a year or so before my dx as having PD
(late 2011), I was losing
weight, despite eating well. I lost 40% of my weight. Occasionally,
an acquaintance would ask if I was OK, did I have cancer? (I did
not.) In 2013, a study provided insight and prompted me into
reading locus coeruleus studies.
"CONCLUSIONS: In PD degeneration of noradrenergic neurons, in
particular of the LC, may be required to observe side effects
unrelated to motor symptoms such as body weight deregulation. Our
results support the notion that the LC may be important in
maintaining the activity of the nigrostriatal dopamine pathways, and
thus play a crucial role in weight variation in a PD."
Locus Coeruleus Is Involved in Weight Loss in a Rat Model of
Parkinson's Disease.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/238...
Since then, several studies have described weight-loss subtypes in
PD.
For instance:
Early Weight Loss With Parkinson's May Be Red Flag; Researchers
suspect this could indicate worse form of disease.
webmd.com/parkinsons-diseas...
Weight Change Is a Characteristic Non-Motor Symptom in Drug-Naïve
Parkinson's Disease Patients with Non-Tremor Dominant Subtype: A
Nation-Wide Observational Study.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/276...
Rethinking energy in parkinsonian motor symptoms: a potential role
for neural metabolic deficits.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/256...
Mechanisms of body weight fluctuations in Parkinson's disease.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/249...
Early weight loss in Parkinson's disease patients may signify more
serious form of disease.
sciencedaily.com/releases/2...
Weight Loss and Impact on Quality of Life in Parkinson’s Disease.
journals.plos.org/plosone/a...
Neuronal loss is greater in the locus coeruleus than nucleus basalis
and substantia nigra in Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases.
jamanetwork.com/journals/ja...