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Atypical Parkinsonism or Parkinson Plus Syndromes

February 24, 2016 | Tags: Categories for this post are: Parkinson’s Disease

These conditions have clinical features similar to Parkinson’s disease and initially may be difficult to differentiate from Parkinson’s disease solely based on the clinical examination. From the prognostic point, it is important to distinguish these conditions from classic Parkinson’s disease because the life expectancy in these conditions is shorter. In contrast to Parkinson’s disease, these patients may not respond well to the dopaminergic treatments or may only show a mild benefit. The detailed account of these conditions is discussed in the section of differential diagnosis, some of these conditions are as follows:

1. Progressive Supranuclear Palsy:

(see section on differential diagnosis)

2. Multiple System Atrophy:

(see section on differential diagnosis)

3. Corticobasal Degeneration:

(see section on differential diagnosis)

4. ALS – Parkinson’s – Dementia complex of Guam:

This is a rare condition that occurred during World War II on Island of Guam, in the Western Pacific, in people from the Chamorro tribe. It is believed that these natives were using the seeds of the plant “cycas circinalis” to grow flowers that contained a neurotoxin which was probably responsible for causing Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinsonism and dementia-like features.