Parkinsonism vs Parkinson’s disease

1/20/24, 8 mins reading

Is Parkinsonism the same as Parkinson's disease?

I often get asked about this question. The answer is NO, they are related, but not the same. To make it easy to understand, Parkinsonism includes Parkinson’s disease, but not vice versa.

Parkinsonism is an umbrella name for a set of motor disorders including Parkinson’s disease that have shared symptoms such as slow movements, muscle stiffness, and tremors. Parkinsonism consists of Parkinson’s disease, Secondary Parkinsonism, and atypical Parkinsonism. Among all disorders constituting Parkinsonism, Parkinson’s disease accounts for the most with 80%.

What are the different types of Parkinsonism?

There are 3 different types of parkinsonism based on causes

• Parkinson’s disease.

• Secondary Parkinsonism: this subgroup of parkinsonism occurs after other medical incidences such as the use of certain types of drugs, toxins, brain injuries, tumors, etc, this subgroup includes vascular Parkinsonism, drug-induced Parkinsonism, toxin-induced Parkinsonism, normal pressure hydrocephalus, postencephalitic Parkinsonism, and post-traumatic Parkinsonism.

• Atypical Parkinsonism: these are medical conditions that take place rarely, however, they can cause Parkinsonism symptoms just like those above. This subgroup includes multiple system atrophy, corticobasal degeneration, progressive supranuclear palsy, and dementia with Lewy body.

Management

Parkinsonism is treatable and some of them are curable. The specific treatments for individual parkinsonism depend on the disorder itself and its causes.

• Parkinson’s disease usually responds well to Levodopa therapy.

• On the other hand, secondary parkinsonism usually does not respond well to levodopa and the treatments require proper management of underlying medical conditions such as stopping the use of drugs, toxins, or treatments of brain tumors.

• Similar to secondary parkinsonism, the management of atypical parkinsonism requires proper treatment of underlying disorders, and the prognosis is directly related to how underlying disorders respond to treatments. This subgroup usually doesn’t respond well to Levodopa therapy or not at all.

Summary

Some causes of Parkinsonism are known and can go away on their own, in that case, they don’t need treatments. However, the majority of Parkinsonism needs to take care of the underlying causes first to be properly managed.

Keyword: Levodopa

Levodopa is a precursor to dopamine. Clinicians use it along with Carbidopa as a dopamine replacement to treat Parkinson’s disease. It is one of the most used and effective drugs for Parkinson’s disease, especially for bradykinetic symptoms (slow movements). After being taken, Levodopa travels and crosses blood-brain barrier to central nervous system, and converts to dopamine there.