PMID- 17098842
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20070910
LR  - 20220410
IS  - 1468-330X (Electronic)
IS  - 0022-3050 (Print)
IS  - 0022-3050 (Linking)
VI  - 78
IP  - 8
DP  - 2007 Aug
TI  - Gender differences in Parkinson's disease.
PG  - 819-24
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate gender differences in basic disease characteristics, 
      motor deterioration and nigrostriatal degeneration in Parkinson's disease (PD). 
      METHODS: We studied 253 consecutive PD patients who were not receiving levodopa 
      or dopamine agonists (disease duration < or = 10 years). We investigated the 
      influence of gender and oestrogen status on: (1) age at onset, (2) presenting 
      symptom, (3) severity and progression of motor symptoms (Unified Parkinson's 
      Disease Rating Scale III (UPDRS-III) scores) and (4) amount and progression of 
      nigrostriatal degeneration ([123I]FP-CIT single photon emission computed 
      tomography measurements). RESULTS: Age at onset was 2.1 years later in women 
      (53.4 years) than in men (51.3 years). In women, age at onset correlated 
      positively with parity, age at menopause and fertile life span. Women more often 
      presented with tremor (67%) than men (48%). Overall, patients presenting with 
      tremor had a 3.6 year higher age at onset and a 38% slower UPDRS-III 
      deterioration. Mean UPDRS-III scores at disease onset were equal for both 
      genders, as was the rate of deterioration. Women had a 16% higher striatal 
      [123I]FP-CIT binding than men at symptom onset and throughout the course of PD. 
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that, in women, the development of symptomatic 
      PD may be delayed by higher physiological striatal dopamine levels, possibly due 
      to the activity of oestrogens. This could explain the epidemiological 
      observations of a lower incidence and higher age at onset in women. Women also 
      presented more often with tremor which, in turn, is associated with milder motor 
      deterioration and striatal degeneration. Taken together, these findings suggest a 
      more benign phenotype in women with PD.
FAU - Haaxma, Charlotte A
AU  - Haaxma CA
AD  - Department of Neurology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, 6500 HB, 
      Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
FAU - Bloem, Bastiaan R
AU  - Bloem BR
FAU - Borm, George F
AU  - Borm GF
FAU - Oyen, Wim J G
AU  - Oyen WJ
FAU - Leenders, Klaus L
AU  - Leenders KL
FAU - Eshuis, Silvia
AU  - Eshuis S
FAU - Booij, Jan
AU  - Booij J
FAU - Dluzen, Dean E
AU  - Dluzen DE
FAU - Horstink, Martin W I M
AU  - Horstink MW
LA  - eng
PT  - Comparative Study
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20061110
PL  - England
TA  - J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry
JT  - Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry
JID - 2985191R
SB  - IM
CIN - J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2007 Aug;78(8):787. PMID: 17635975
MH  - Adult
MH  - Age of Onset
MH  - Aged
MH  - Brain/diagnostic imaging/pathology
MH  - Disease Progression
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - Incidence
MH  - Male
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Motor Skills Disorders/etiology
MH  - Parkinson Disease/*complications/epidemiology/*pathology
MH  - Phenotype
MH  - Severity of Illness Index
MH  - Sex Factors
MH  - Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
PMC - PMC2117736
COIS- Competing interests: None.
EDAT- 2006/11/14 09:00
MHDA- 2007/09/11 09:00
PMCR- 2010/08/01
CRDT- 2006/11/14 09:00
PHST- 2006/11/14 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2007/09/11 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2006/11/14 09:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2010/08/01 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - jnnp.2006.103788 [pii]
AID - jn103788 [pii]
AID - 10.1136/jnnp.2006.103788 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2007 Aug;78(8):819-24. doi: 
      10.1136/jnnp.2006.103788. Epub 2006 Nov 10.