What is "parkinsonism"

Palsy \Pal"sy\, n.; pl. Palsies. [OE. palesie, parlesy, OF. paralesie, F. paralysie, L. paralysis. See Paralysis.] (Med.) Paralysis, complete or partial. See Paralysis. ``One sick of the palsy.''
--Mark ii. 3.

Bell's palsy, paralysis of the facial nerve, producing distortion of one side of the face; -- so called from Sir Charles Bell, an English surgeon who described it.

Scrivener's palsy. See Writer's cramp, under Writer.

Shaking palsy, (Med.) paralysis agitans, a disease usually occurring in old people, characterized by muscular tremors and a peculiar shaking and tottering gait; now called parkinsonism, or Parkinson's disease.

parkinsonism \parkinsonism\ n. A degenerative nervous disorder occurring mostly in persons older than 60 years, characterized in advanced stages by rhythmic muscular tremors, especially in the hands, and by rigidity of movement, a drooping posture, slow speech, and a masklike facial expression; the term designates a set of symptoms, and the underlying disease causing these symptoms is most commonly Parkinson's disease. Parkinsonism results from a deficiency in the neurotransmitter dopamine caused by degeneration of the cells producing that agent. It can be mitigated by chemotherapy with agents such as levodopa (3-hydroxy-L-tyrosine).

Syn: paralysis agitans, Parkinson's disease, Parkinson's syndrome, Parkinson's, shaking palsy.

A Mayo Clinic study finds parkinsonism, a group of ailments that includes Parkinson's disease, is three times more common than previously thought and men are more likely to develop it than women. The study, published Tuesday in the journal Neurology, found the lifetime risk of developing parkinsonism is 7.5 percent, three times higher than previously thought.
--UPI (Jan. 2, 1999)

alt. (context neurology disease English) A neurological syndrome characterized by tremor, hypokinesia, rigidity, and postural instability; a condition with the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, regardless of its cause. n. (context neurology disease English) A neurological syndrome characterized by tremor, hypokinesia, rigidity, and postural instability; a condition with the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, regardless of its cause.

Parkinsonism is a clinical syndrome characterized by tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity, and postural instability. Parkinsonism shares symptoms found in Parkinson's disease, from which it is named; but parkinsonism is a symptom complex, and differs from Parkinson disease which is a progressive neurodegenerative illness. The underlying causes of parkinsonism are numerous, and diagnosis can be complex. The neurodegenerative condition Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most common cause of parkinsonism. However, a wide range of other etiologies may lead to a similar set of symptoms, including some toxins, a few metabolic diseases, and a handful of neurological conditions other than Parkinson's.

About 7% of people with parkinsonism have developed their symptoms following treatment with particular medications. Side effect of medications, mainly neuroleptic antipsychotics especially the phenothiazines (such as perphenazine and chlorpromazine), thioxanthenes (such as flupenthixol and zuclopenthixol) and butyrophenones (such as haloperidol (Haldol)), piperazines (such as ziprasidone), and, rarely, antidepressants. The incidence of drug-induced parkinsonism increases with age. Drug induced parkinsonism tends to remain at its presenting level, not progress like Parkinson's disease.