Severe Nonmotor Symptoms Found in Many Early Parkinson’s Patients

man with hand on head
man with hand on head
More than one-third of early Parkinson's patients, whether or not taking medication, reported severe fatigue, memory difficulties and urinary urgency.

Almost all patients with early Parkinson’s disease (PD) have nonmotor symptoms (NMSs), with more than a third having a severe burden of symptoms, a study shows.

Among the 170 patients with treated early PD (≤5 years from diagnosis), the burden of NMSs was mild in 29.4%, moderate in 34.1%, severe in 21.2% and very severe in 15.3%. The corresponding rates among 64 drug-naïve patients were 28.1%, 29.7%, 21.9% and 18.8%, while 1.6% had no NMSs.

Some of the most common NMSs were fatigue, reported by 57.6% and 57.8% of each group, respectively, while memory difficulties were reported by 51.2% and 48.4%, and urinary urgency by 57.1% and 46.9%.

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