IMR Press / JIN / Volume 22 / Issue 5 / DOI: 10.31083/j.jin2205132
Open Access Review
Pain in Parkinson's Disease: Pathophysiology, Classification and Treatment
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1 Medical Department, Zambon SpA, 20091 Bresso, Italy
2 Parkinson-Klinik Ortenau, 77709 Wolfach, Germany
*Correspondence: w.jost@parkinson-klinik.de (Wolfgang H. Jost)
J. Integr. Neurosci. 2023, 22(5), 132; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.jin2205132
Submitted: 5 June 2023 | Revised: 17 July 2023 | Accepted: 19 July 2023 | Published: 8 September 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanism of Parkinson's Disease (PD) and New/Future Drug Therapies)
Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Continuous medical progress is significantly improving the quality of health care. As a result, people are living longer than during the past century, but this has also caused an increase of the prevalence of many neurological disorders. Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the fastest growing neurological condition, with a doubling of cases reported between 1995 and 2015 and a further doubling projected by 2030. Parkinson’s disease is generally associated with characteristic motor symptoms (resting tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia and postural instability). However, patients with PD also experience many non-motor symptoms that might be at least as debilitating as the motor symptoms and which significantly impact patients’ quality of life (QoL). Pain is a frequent yet underrecognized symptom; the incidence in PD is much higher than in the general population and constitutes a silent disability that significantly contributes to a deterioration in QoL. Accurate identification of parkinsonian pain is important for its diagnosis and effective treatment. In this review, we provide an overview of the pathophysiology, classification, and management of pain in PD. We define the various modalities of chronic PD pain, suggesting possible explanations for its relationship with PD pathology, and discuss its management and currently recommended therapies.

Keywords
Parkinson's disease
pain
therapy
non-motor symptoms
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