bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Dietary antioxidants and other dietary factors in the etiology of Parkinson's disease
Authors: Scheider W. L. , Hershey L. A. , Vena J. E. , Holmlund T. , Marshall J. R. , Freudenheim J. L. 
Published: May 2005

AbstractIt has been suggested that dietary antioxidants reduce Parkinson's disease (PD) risk by neutralizing free radicals, thus preventing injury to neurons in the substantia nigra. This case‐control study examined the possible role of long‐term dietary antioxidant intake in PD etiology. Cases (n = 57) were males 45–79 years old with at least two cardinal signs of PD and no evidence of other forms of parkinsonism or dementia. Age‐matched friend controls (n = 50) were chosen from lists provided by the cases. Usual dietary intake 20 years ago, including vitamins E and C and carotenoids, was assessed by a 102‐item food frequency questionnaire. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated using conditional logistic regression. Antioxidant intake, adjusted for age, education, smoking, rural living, and total energy intake, was not associated with reduced PD risk. Trends toward greater PD risk were associated with higher intakes of vitamin C and carotenoids, especially xanthophylls, reflecting higher intakes by PD cases of fruit and certain vegetables. Intakes of sweet foods, including fruit, were associated with higher PD risk, suggesting that the observed trends may be due to a preference for sweet foods. This study does not provide support for a protective effect of long‐term dietary antioxidant intake on PD risk.
A shortened version of the motor section of the unified Huntington's disease rating scale
Authors: Siesling S. , Zwinderman A. H. , van Vugt J. P. P. , Kieburtz K. , Roos R. A. C. 
Published: May 2005

AbstractObjective assessment of clinical findings of patients with Huntington's disease (HD) is necessary for an evaluation of the individual progression of the disease and the effect of therapy, and it requires specific assessment scales. The Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) is an overall scale to assess clinical performance and functional capacity. In the course of carrying out studies in HD, several items in the motor function section were found to be difficult to score, had high cognitive loading, and appeared to be redundant. The objective of this study was to shorten the motor section of the UHDRS to the smallest number of items, without loss of internal consistency, while still assessing the important clinical features of HD. Shortening the total motor score of the UHDRS was carried out on the UHDRS data set of the Leiden University Hospital using four methods. The first two methods employed principal‐component analysis with Varimax rotation. Strongly interrelated test items were uncovered, resulting in a reduction of test items to a smaller set. The third method reduced items so that the internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) was maximal. The fourth method omitted items subjectively. The results of the Dutch data set were validated on follow‐up data and on a data set from the University of Rochester Medical Center, New York. This study determined that the number of items in the motor function section could be reduced from 31 to 15. The reduced set maintains the relationships between the motor and other sections of the UHDRS and still assesses the major clinical features of HD.
Freezing phenomenon in patients with parkinsonian syndromes
Authors: Giladi Nir , Kao Richard , Fahn Stanley 
Published: May 2005

AbstractFreezing is a common symptom in parkinsonian syndromes, but its association with different causes of parkinsonism as well as with other symptoms has never been investigated. We conducted a database survey of the occurrence of freezing in parkinsonism. Of 347 patients with a clinical diagnosis of parkinsonism other than idiopathic Parkinson's disease and with specific data regarding freezing, 158 patients had freezing (46%). Freezing was significantly associated with progression of the disease as rated on the Hoehn & Yahr scale [odds ratio (OR), 1.69; p < 0.004]. Gender was not a risk factor for the development of freezing. Patients with drug‐induced parkinsonism were at a very low risk for developing freezing (p < 0.00001; OR, 0.1). Freezing was found in a high frequency in patients with vascular parkinsonism (57%), normal‐pressure hydrocephalus (56%), and generally in teh group of patients who had parkinsonism resulting from neurodegenerative disease (progressive supranuclear palsy, multiple system atrophy, and corticobasal ganglionic degeneration; 45%). Freezing was significantly associated with the presence of dementia, incontinence, and tachyphemia (OR, 2.01, 1.7, and 5.09, respectively).
Short‐term effects of behavioral treatment on movement initiation and postural control in Parkinson's disease: A controlled clinical study
Authors: Müller Viktor , Mohr Bettina , Rosin Regina , Pulvermüller Friedemann , Müller Friedemann , Birbaumer Niels 
Published: May 2005

AbstractIn a controlled clinical study, we investigated the effects of behavioral treatment on postural and gait initiation problems in idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). Comparable groups of patients received behavioral therapy (experimental group, n = 15) and nonspecific psychological treatment (control group, n = 14) for 10 weeks. We monitored various variables reflecting properties of posture and gait initiation by using an optoelectronic motion analyzer (electronic movement analysis system, ELITE). A clinical blind to group membership of the patients assessed PD severity with the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) before and after the treatment period. ELITE measures of postural stability and movement initiation revealed treatment‐specific effects. In addition, UPDRS motor scores showed significant improvement only after behavioral treatment. We conclude that behavioral treatment in Parkinson's disease may improve motor disabilities in moderately advanced PD patients.
Torticollis due to disinhibition of the vestibulo‐collic reflex in a patient with Steele‐Richardson‐Olszewski syndrome
Authors: Bisdorff A. R. , Bronstein A. M. , Wolsley C. , Lees A. J. 
Published: May 2005

AbstractA patient with the clinical picture of Steele‐Richardson‐Olszewski syndrome and an unusual intermittent neck twisting is reported. He had virtually no voluntary ocular movements and only very slow, low‐amplitude voluntary head movements. However, in response to optokinetic or vestibular stimulation, he developed full eye deviations in the direction of the slow phase of the expected nystagmus. No quick phases were observed, and the deviation outlasted the duration of the vestibular stimuli because of defective saccades. The head also turned fully during these stimuli, quicker than on attempted voluntary movements, and remained derivated similarly to the eyes. This suggests that the neck deviations in this patient were due to a disinhibited vestibulo‐collic reflex and a disturbed head position resetting mechanism. Neck electromyographic responses in response to whole‐body rotation indicated that the vestibulocollic reflex responsible for the torticollis in this patient had a short latency of ∼ 30 ms.
Effects of thalamic deep brain stimulation based on tremor type and diagnosis
Authors: Hubble J. P. , Busenbark K. L. , Wilkinson S. , Pahwa Rajesh , Paulson George W. , Lyons K. , Koller W. C. 
Published: May 2005

AbstractIt has been suggested that deep brain stimulation (DBS) is less effective in alleviating proximal than distal postural arm tremor and tremor reduction is said to be less in essential tremor (ET) than in Parkinson's disease (PD). We analyzed blinded rater's tremor scores and subjects' disability ratings at 3‐month follow‐up to examine the effects of DBS based on tremor type (rest, kinetic, distal postural, proximal postural) and diagnosis (ET, PD). An independent examiner provided tremor scores using randomized videotaped footage of 19 ET and 10 PD subjects at baseline and at follow‐up with DBS “on.” Subjects provided self‐ratings of disability at baseline and at follow‐up. Comparisons of baseline and follow‐up tremor scores and disability ratings were made using the Mann–Whitney U and Wilcoxon rank sum W test; correlation analyses were performed using Spearman rank order correlation test. There were significant and essentially equal improvements in tremor scores for rest, kinetic, distal postural, and proximal postural tremor at follow‐up. Only one subject had no improvement in tremor. Tremor improved significantly and to the same extent in ET and PD subjects in each position except “at rest,” which was most improved in PD (p = 0.0003). ET and PD subjects did not differ in the extent of disability improvement. Improved disability correlated only with improved postural tremor scores: proximal postural and distal postural (r = 0.41, p = 0.03; r = 0.47, p = 0.01). DBS is effective in alleviating tremor and disability in both ET and PD. Resting, kinetic, distal postural, and proximal postural tremor can be reduced to an equal degree. However, DBS produces the greates improvement in disability in association with improved postural tremor in both ET and PD.
Reflex myoclonus in cortical‐basal ganglionic degeneration involves a transcortical pathway
Authors: Strafella A. , Ashby P. , Lang A. E. 
Published: May 2005

AbstractThe short‐latency reflex myoclonus that appears to be characteristic of cortical‐basal ganglionic degeneration (CBGD) was investigated in two patients. Stimulating the digital nerves of the middle finger caused exaggerated reflex activity in the first dorsal interosseus (FDI) muscle of that hand with a latency of 46–51 ms. Magnetic stimulation over the contralateral cortex, delivered 25 ms after the digital nerve stimulus, resulted in greater than expected facilitation of FDI, implying spatial summation. Poststimulus time histograms (PSTH) of individual FDI motor units indicated that this spatial summation was occurring “upstream” from the motoneurons. It is argued that this occurs at the motor cortex. Magnetic stimulation over the cortex in normal subjects results in short‐latency facilitation of the contralateral motoneurons followed by inhibition. This inhibition was less in the patients with CBGD. It is argued that this results from the loss of an intrinsic cortical or corticothalamic inhibitory mechanism.
Familial cortical myoclonic tremor as a unique form of cortical reflex myoclonus
Authors: Terada Kiyohito , Ikeda Akio , Mima Tatsuya , Kimura Kaku , Nagahama Yasuhiro , Kamioka Yu , Murone Lkuo , Kimura Jun , Shibasaki Hiroshi 
Published: May 2005

AbstractPreviously it was reported that some patients with tremor had the same electrophysiological findings as those seen in patients with cortical reflex myoclonus, and consequently the tremor was named “cortical tremor”. In the present study, we examined six patients from three families with cortical tremor of relatively late onset. The inheritance pattern of cortical tremor was compatible with autosomal dominant trait. Those patients had relatively rhythmic involuntary movements (tremor) in the distal upper and lower limbs, especially during posture and/or fine movements. There was no cerebellar ataxia or dementia, and fits of loss of consciousness occurred only infrequently. Electrophysiologically, they had generalized spikes on electroencephalogram (EEG), giant cortical components of somatosensory evoked potential, an enhanced long‐loop reflex (C‐reflex), and cortical spikes preceding the rhythmic jerk demonstrable by the jerk‐locked back averaging method, thus fulfilling the criteria of cortical reflex myoclonus. Furthermore, they had normal slow negative EEG shift starting 1–2 s prior to voluntary movements, suggesting that, as opposed to the conventional form of progressive myoclonus epilepsy (PME), the cerebellar efferent input to the motor cortices was normal. These clinical and electrophysiological pictures are distinct from those of familial essential tremor, familial essential myoclonus, or the conventional form of PME, and the term “familial cortical myoclonic tremor” will represent the clinical and electrophysiological features of this unique entity most appropriately.
Clonic perseveration following thalamofrontal disconnection: A distinctive movement disorder
Authors: Fung Victor S. C. , Morris John G. L. , Leicester Jonathan , Soo Y. S. , Davies Llewelyn 
Published: May 2005

AbstractWe describe four patients who developed asymmetrical, rhythmic, stereotyped, and repetitive movements of the upper and lower limbs hours to days after infarction that involved the thalamus and/or basal ganglia. The movements appeared to occur spontaneously and were initially labeled as focal motor seizures, ballism, or tremor; they could, however, be induced by passive movement of the limbs. The movements most commonly observed were scratching or rubbing movements of the hands that were of such persistence as to cause trauma to the skin; in the lower limbs, the heel was run up and down the bed sheet, often until it bled. The movements were part of a syndrome characterised initially by a reduced level of consciousness and followed by aspontaneity, usually with mutism and frontal release signs. One patient who had relatively preserved cognition and language repeated words or phrases again and again when encouraged to speak, but had no difficulty changing responses appropriately to different cues. In drawing, he overwrote each figure but could change the figure on command. The distinctive movement disorder in these patients was due to clonic perseveration. We suggest that clonic perseveration results from disconnection of prefrontal cortico–basal ganglia–thalamo–cortical loops that are important for the termination of motor plans. Clonic perseveration should be recognised as a movement disorder following thalamic lesions.
Dopamine agonist treatment of tourette disorder in children: Results of an open‐label trial of pergolide
Authors: Lipinski Joseph F. , Sallee Floyd R. , Jackson Cherry , Sethuraman Gopalan 
Published: May 2005

AbstractThis exploratory study was meant to determine the effect of the dopamine (DA) agonist pergolide on Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) in children and adolescents and to ascertain correlates of pergolide response. Thirty‐two outpatients, aged 7–19 years, were systematically assessed in a neuropsychiatric clinic for the presence of GTS and comorbid disorders. After a 6‐week open‐label, fixed‐flexible dosing schedule, response to pergolide on standard GTS severity outcome measures was assessed. Overall, 75% of patients (24/32) had a >50% drop in their tic severity rating from baseline with a mean treatment dosage of 177 ± 61 μg/day. Highly significant (p = 0.0001) baseline to week 6 differences were demonstrated in all tic symptom measures. The presence of restless legs syndrome (RLS) comorbidity (59%) was highly associated with a positive response. These results suggest DA agonism as a strategy, and pergolide in particular, may be a practical form of therapy for GTS. Response predictors of patient comorbid RLS argue for its further study with regard to GTS.
G/A1947 polymorphism in catechol‐O‐methyltransferase (COMT) gene in Parkinson's disease
Authors: Xie T. , Ho S. L. , Li L. S. W. , Ma O. C. K. 
Published: May 2005

AbstractHigh and low catechol‐O‐methyltransferase (COMT) activity is significantly determined by thermostability, which is caused by a valine/methionine108 polymorphism associated with polymorphic G/A1947 bases, in exon 4 of the COMT gene. Our allelic association study on this polymorphism did not find any statistically significant difference between our Chinese Parkinson's disease and that of control subjects. These results show that this polymorphism and hence the thermostability of COMT enzyme are not related to a risk of developing Parkinson's disease.
The emergin role of clozapine in the treatment of movement disorders
Authors: Factor Stewart A. , Friedman Joseph H. 
Published: May 2005

AbstractClozapine, the only commercially available atypical neuroleptic, is approved for the treatment of schizophrenic patients who are unresponsive to or intolerant of typical neuroleptics. It has an unusual pharmacologic profile compared with standard neuroleptics, and it follows that clinical response to this drug is also different. It has shattered the notion that a drug must be capable of inducing or worsening parkinsonism to be a potent antipsychotic. Based on these findings, it is being used increasingly by neurologists for psychiatric and nonpsychiatric problems in patients with movement disorders. The most common use for clozapine among neurologists is in the management of druginduced psychosis in Parkinson's disease (PD). This problem has been a source of increased morbidity and mortality in PD because of a lack of adequate therapeutic intervention. At this time, because of success in numerous open trials, with improvement of >80% of patients, clozapine therapy for psychosis in PD is becoming the standard of care. It also appears to be of value in the management of some motor features of PD, including tremors and dyskinesia and possibly even sensory symptoms such as akathisia and pain. The literature also suggests that clozapine may be of potential benefit in hyperkinetic movement disorders including essential tremor, Huntington's disease, and tardive dyskinesia. We review the current data concerning the use of clozapine in patients with these movement disorders and others.
Simultaneous MAO‐B and COMT inhibition in L‐dopa‐treated patients with parkinson's disease
Authors: Lyytinen Jukka , Kaakkola Seppo , Ahtila Sirpa , Tuomainen Päivi , Teräväinen Heikki 
Published: May 2005

AbstractThe effect of selegiline (L‐deprenyl) on plasma catecholamines, clinical response, and drug tolerability was studied in 13 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) treated with L‐Dopa/benserazide and entacapone, a peripheral catechol‐O‐methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitor, in a placebo‐controlled double‐blind study. An L‐Dopa test was performed on 3 study days. The first study day was with L‐Dopa/benserazide only (control), the second after 14 days of treatment with 200 mg entacapone taken concomitantly with L‐Dopa/benserazide in combination with either selegiline (10 mg daily) or placebo. After a 2‐week washout period, selegiline and placebo treatments were switched, and the third study day was after 14 days of treatment. During the study days, clinical response was evaluated at 30‐min intervals for 6 h, by using the motor score of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). In addition, repeated blood pressure measurements were made, and plasma samples were taken for analysis of L‐Dopa, 3‐O‐methyldopa (3‐OMD), dihydroxyphenyl acetic acid (DOPAC), homovanillic acid (HVA), dopamine, nor‐adrenaline, and 3‐methoxy‐4‐hydroxyphenylethylene glycol (MHPG). Monoamine oxidase B (MAO‐B) and COMT enzyme activities were measured from platelets and erythrocytes, respectively. Entacapone improved the clinical response to L‐Dopa during both selegiline and placebo (p < 0.001) treatments. The improvement was more marked during combined selegiline and entacapone treatment than with entacapone alone (p < 0.01). Entacapone significantly increased plasma L‐Dopa and DOPAC levels and decreased plasma 3‐OMD and MHPG levels both with selegiline and placebo. Selegiline partially inhibited the entacapone‐induced increase of plasma DOPAC. Plasma dopamine and noradrenaline levels did not change. Entacapone decreased erythrocyte COMT activity by >35% (p < 0.001), and platelet MAO‐B activity was almost completely inhibited by selegiline (p < 0.001). One patient withdrew because of diarrhea, dizziness, and loss of sleep when receiving selegiline treatment. Otherwise no differences in adverse events, mean daily blood pressures, or other safety parameters were observed between selegiline and placebo treatments. Our results suggest that entacapone can be safely administered together with L‐Dopa and selegiline in patients with PD, although further studies with larger number of patients and longer treatment periods are necessary to confirm this finding.
The “cold hands sign” in multiple system atrophy
Authors: Klein Christine , Brown Richard , Wenning Gregor , Quinn Niall 
Published: May 2005

AbstractPatients with multiple system atrophy (MSA) often have cold, dusky, violaceous hands, with poor circulatory return after blanching by pressure. We therefore compared hand skin temperature in nine age‐matched subjects with probable MSA, 10 with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD), and 10 healthy controls both at rest and following a standard cooling procedure.Baseline skin temperature in the MSA group was significantly lower than in both the PD and control groups, and four of the nine MSA patients were colder at baseline than the coldest control value. After cooling, the MSA group also showed a significantly greater reduction in skin temperature than the PD group. The rate of skin temperature recovery did not differ between the three groups, although the MSA group required more time to return completely to their baseline temperature.Changes in skin colour or temperature are easily detected, and suggest a defect in neurovascular control of distal extremities. The “cold hands sign” is another clinical “red flag” that helps to raise the suspicion of MSA.
Vomiting and retching in gilles de la tourette syndrome: A report of ten cases and a review of the literature
Authors: Rickards Hugh , Robertson Mary M. 
Published: May 2005

AbstractRetching and vomiting are common symptoms in childhood. We describe the cases of 10 patients with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) for whom vomiting or retching tics were part of the clinical picture, and discuss other instances where retching and vomiting occur with neuropsychiatric or movement disorders.
Saccades in gilles de la tourette's syndrome
Authors: Straube Andreas , Mennicken Jan‐Baldem , Riedel Michael , Eggert Thomas , Mülller Norbert 
Published: May 2005

AbstractGilles de la Tourette's syndrome (GTS) is presumed to be an inherited disorder with an unclear pathophysiology. An involvement of the basal ganglia is suspected. Besides vocal tics, one of the main symptoms is the presence of motor tics. As eye movements are a specialized part of the motor system, we investigated whether they differed in some typical way in GTS patients. To study the control of saccades in GTS, different paradigms were used to elicit saccades, which were either externally triggered and visually guided or internally triggered and without visual target. GTS patients (n = 10) showed a significant increase of the latency of antisaccades, a highly impaired performance of sequences of memory‐guided saccades, and an isolated reduction of the peak velocity in the antisaccades. Overall the results were similar to those found with similar paradigms in patients with Huntington's disease (HD). In analogy to the known pathology of HD, these findings can be attributed to ascending loops from the basal ganglia that inappropriately activate the frontal cortex, especially some of the eye movement‐related areas there. This impairment seems to be a rather specific effect, since some oculomotor features that are preserved by structures of the frontal cortex, such as the effect of a fixation target on saccadic latency (“gap effect”), were normal.