Im suffocating slowly,, the original Dr Parkinson who described the disease in his notes claimed "methink my patients have trouble breathing." yeah...i know.....im at 48% capacity....less than 1 lung all from rigid chest muscles and diaphragms. and......its common and overlooked. ive had pd since i was 33 and im 52 now just fyi. cheers.
Exertional dyspnoea is commonly an early feature in respiratory disease; however, neurological disease may limit mobility and, as a consequence, preclude this symptom. Diagnosis of respiratory dysfunction resulting from neurological disease may therefore require a higher index of clinical suspicion or the application of specific tests; this exercise is worthwhile if it allows advance detection and discussion and (where appropriate) treatment, of impending overt respiratory dysfunction.
Parkinson’s disease is the most common movement disorder in developed countries. Even with levodopa therapy the cause of death in such patients is commonly respiratory.149 150Characteristic findings in such patients are a reduction in both maximal static inspiratory and expiratory pressures as well as maximal inspiratory and expiratory flows.151 Moreover, such patients are unable to generate a rapid rise in peak expiratory flow which may be important for a maximally effective cough, a finding consistent with the hypokinesia typical of the condition. These abnormalities were shown to be correctable in a substantial proportion of patients by the administration of apomorphine.152Interestingly, patients with early Parkinson’s disease and normal respiratory muscle strength are markedly less able to perform repetitive bursts of respiratory muscle work than age matched controls.153 Problems in the coordination of activation of respiratory muscle also seem to be responsible for the dyspnoea which can occur in patients with dystonia.154
Upper airway flutter is sometimes found on the flow volume loops of parkinsonian patients151; this indicates upper airway dysfunction and sleep abnormalities might therefore be expected. Obstructive apnoeas are more common in parkinsonian patients, but a range of other abnormalities are also found which result in fragmented sleep architecture.155 In the related condition of multisystem atrophy, glottic narrowing during sleep has been suggested as a possible cause of sudden nocturnal death. This is not always detectable by fibreoptic examinations conducted while the patient was awake,156 157 and polysomnography may therefore be indicated in symptomatic patients. However, in another study of patients with progressive supranuclear palsy, frequent desaturations were not found.158
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very nice! my peak expiratory FEV1, is 48 %, no interstishal scarring so no lung damage per se aside ftom the collapse features , atelectasis.........cheers! nice nugget........
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im also havng nocturnal and diurnal stridor ill try to post on that..
BT thanks for this. I noticed breathing problems a long time ago but they never feature on PD literature and neuros never seem to bring them up. I appreciate reading what you find.
Have a look at this post on myofascial release. Halfway down I list some sites that have helpful exercises that I found that helped my breathing (I don’t have Parkinson’s but had been having issues of my own). The diaphragm release really helped me be able to breathe properly. Maybe it might work for PD too.
I have been continuing to work on my neck and back, stretching daily. Trying to turn my head to the side as far as I can. I think years of hunching over an iPad screen has stiffened up my neck and back.
Thank you for sharing this research paper. We tend to forget that respiratory function is affected across a wide range of neurological disorders, including PD.
"Respiratory muscle weakness is often unrelated to peripheral muscle weakness." This is an import statement to me, my respiratory insufficiency occurred well ahead of other more visible muscle weakness.
Me too, I have ALS. I do two things; I use an oxygen concentrator with my ventilator at night. I don't have to worry about loss of respiratory drive on the ventilator and I no longer wake up with headaches. My blood oxygen levels have improved. I was getting blood clots and angina from chronic hypoxia, this resolved with oxygen therapy.
I have a special mask that I use alone with the oxygen concentrator that washes out CO2. It's called the Oxymask OM-1125-8. I bought mine on Ebay. Having insufficient oxygen causes a cascade of other health problems.
Only the ventilator was prescribed - I research and then do what is best for me. You do you. 😊
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