Early Diagnosis and Preventive Therapy in Parkinson’s Disease (Key Topics in Brain Research)

At the time when "Parkinson's Disease" is diagnosed in a patient, roughly two thirds of dopaminergic neurons of substantia nigra are already degenerated. The onset of the disease must, therefore, be much earlier. This book deals with early diagnosis and early preventive treatment which may sustain the process underlying the disease. By use of psychometric, kinesiologic, physiologic, histologic, biochemical, endocrinologic, pharmacologic and imaging techniques, including positron-emission tomography and brain mapping, specialists tried to focus on new diagnostic criteria. New methods including psychometric evaluation, apparative measurement of movement, analysis of peripheral blood and urinary constituents have supplemented this approach. It has been agreed that early preventive therapy consists of low dosis of L-DOPA plus benserazide, L-deprenyl and dopaminergic agonists. Front Matter....Pages I-XIV The premorbid personality of patients with Parkinson’s disease....Pages 1-7 Parkinson’s disease: development of dementia in aging....Pages 9-17 Psychometric assessment of early signs of dementia in special consideration of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease—an update....Pages 19-32 Sensory and musculo-skeletal dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease—premonitory and permanent....Pages 33-39 Autonomic nervous system screening in patients with early Parkinson’s disease....Pages 41-48 Clinical and biochemical characteristics of early depression in Parkinson’s disease....Pages 49-54 Psychomotor investigations in depressed patients by comparison with Parkinson patients....Pages 55-63 Quantitative analysis of voluntary and involuntary motor phenomena in Parkinson’s disease....Pages 65-73 Motor performance test....Pages 75-82 Measuring body movements in neurological disease, with special reference to Parkinson’s disease....Pages 83-91 Long-term measurement of tremor: early diagnostic possibilities....Pages 93-102 Tremor and electrically elicited long-latency reflexes in early stages of Parkinson’s disease....Pages 103-110 Evoked potentials in Parkinson’s disease....Pages 111-115 Brain mapping of EEG and evoked Potentials during physiological aging and in Parkinson’s disease, dementia and depression....Pages 117-124 Positron emission tomography in Parkinson’s disease glucose metabolism....Pages 125-128 Parkinson’s disease studied using PET....Pages 129-137 Pathobiochemistry of the extrapyramidal system: a “short note” review....Pages 139-149 Dopaminergic neurotransmission and status of brain iron....Pages 151-160 Dopaminergic modulation of neuropeptide gene expression in the rat striatum....Pages 161-169 The diagnostic relevance of Lewy bodies and other inclusions in Parkinson’s disease....Pages 171-180 Cytoskeletal pathology of the Lewy bodies....Pages 181-189 Plasma concentrations of endogenous DOPA and 3-O-methyl-DOPA in rats administered benserazide and carbidopa alone or in combination with the reversible COMT inhibitor Ro 41-0960....Pages 191-196 Catecholamines in urine, blood and cerebrospinal fluid....Pages 197-203 3 H-spiperone binding to lymphocytes is increased in schizophrenic patients and decreased in parkinson patients....Pages 205-212 Platelet MAO-B activity in humans and stumptail monkeys: in vivo effects of the reversible MAO-B inhibitor Ro 19-6327....Pages 213-219 Aspartate, glutamate, and glutamine in platelets of patients with Parkinson’s disease....Pages 221-227 Hypothalamic dysfunction and neuroendocrine research in Parkinson’s disease....Pages 229-236 The MPTP model: an update....Pages 237-242 Histochemistry of MAO subtypes in the brainstem of humans: a relation to the radical hypothesis of Parkinson’s disease?....Pages 243-248 Importance of dopaminergic and GABAergic neurones of the nucleus accumbens and the caudate nucleus for motoricity....Pages 249-256 Is D-1 receptor stimulation important for the anti-parkinson activity of dopamine agonists?....Pages 257-268 Pharmacological and clinical-pharmacological aspects of D 1 and D 2 receptors....Pages 269-277 Chemical modulation of membrane-bound receptors....Pages 279-282 Transplantation of dopamine-synthesizing cells—new therapy for Parkinson’s disease?....Pages 283-304 L-dopa in Parkinson’s disease....Pages 305-311 Pharmacokinetic investigations of various levodopa formulations....Pages 313-322 Iron therapy in Parkinson’s disease....Pages 323-327 Provisional experiences with the combination of L-dopa and L-deprenyl....Pages 329-334 Clinical pharmacology of amantadine and derivatives....Pages 335-341 Dopamine agonist treatment in early Parkinson’s disease....Pages 343-348 Subcutaneous apomorphine in Parkinson’s disease....Pages 349-355 Continuous dopaminergic stimulation with parenteral lisuride in complicated Parkinson’s disease....Pages 357-371 Discussion....Pages 373-432 Back Matter....Pages 433-447 This work deals with early diagnosis and early preventive treatment of Parkinson's disease, which may sustain the process underlying the disease. By use of psychometric, kinesiologic, physiologic, histologic, biochemical, endocrinologic, pharmacologic and imaging techniques.