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Musculoskeletal deformities and fractures in Parkinson’s disease

Authors Masroor S, Rana MA, Alenazi B

Published 1 December 2011 Volume 2011:1 Pages 12—12

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/JPRLS.S37044



Sufian Masroor,1 M. A. Rana,2 Bashir Alenazi3

1
McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; 2Parkinson’s Clinic of Eastern Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 3Armed Forces Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative condition that is characterized by a variety of severely debilitating motor and non-motor symptoms. Further, an increased risk of skeletal deformities and fractures, conditions ranging from scoliosis to osteoporosis, is of noteworthy importance. Following are some of the skeletal deformities seen in PD. Scoliosis, a lateral curving of the spine, is more common in PD patients than in the general population. Although the exact relationship between scoliosis and PD is not clearly known, it has been suggested that scoliosis is closely related to the dopamine deficiency associated with PD. Several studies have noted that the direction of the spinal curvature is correlated with the laterality of the major signs and symptoms of PD.1 It has been suggested that patients may slowly develop a tendency to lean towards the affected lagging side of PD during walking. This may result in the curvature of the spine seen in scoliosis, although genetic, biomechanical, or hormonal factors may play a role as well.

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