Monitoring Blood Pressure Helps Reduce Falls in People With Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease patients have a sudden drop in blood pressure while standing, a condition known as orthostatic hypotension, revealed a new study published in online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The drop in blood pressure leads to dizziness, lightheadedness, and even loss of consciousness and falls. "In many cases, this can result in falls and fainting," said study author Alessandra Fanciulli, M.D., Ph.D., of the Medical University of Innsbruck in Austria. "If we can monitor people's blood pressure to detect this condition, we could potentially control these blood pressure drops and prevent some of the falls that can be so damaging for people with Parkinson's."

The study examined 173 people with Parkinson's disease who had been referred for testing for autonomic problems that can cause dizziness and fainting. They were compared to 173 people who did not have Parkinson's but had a condition called orthostatic intolerance (develop symptoms when upright that go away when lying down).

Two types of blood pressure were monitored. The first one is called transient orthostatic hypotension (blood pressure falls dramatically upon rising from sitting or lying down), and the second one classic orthostatic hypotension (blood pressure drops within three minutes after standing, and then returns to normal).

Study Results

• 19% of the people with Parkinson's had classic orthostatic hypotension.
• Transient orthostatic hypotension occurred in 24% of people with Parkinson's.
• 21% of the people with orthostatic intolerance.
• 40% of those with Parkinson's had a history of falls. Of those, 29% fell due to fainting.
• Treatments for orthostatic hypotension improved symptoms in six people.
• Six people were told to stop taking their high blood pressure medication, three of them said symptoms improved.
• Three people started taking adrenergic drugs (midodrine in two cases and droxidopa in another); the patient taking droxidopa reported an improvement in symptoms. "While these results are preliminary and larger studies are needed, they suggest that these treatments that have been used for classic orthostatic hypotension may prove effective for transient orthostatic hypotension as well," Fanciulli said.
  
  
  Quiz on Parkinson’s Disease
  Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic and progressive nervous system disorder that results in a gradual loss of muscle control. It has an impact on the body's ability to control movement.
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  Blood pressure readings – what do the numbers mean? Use Medindia’s blood pressure calculator to check whether you blood pressure is at healthy level.

  High Blood Pressure Medications Reduce Risk of Orthostatic Hypotension
  Treatment for lower high blood pressure does not increase the risk of developing orthostatic hypotension. On the contrary, lower blood pressure after treatment decreases the risk of orthostatic hypotension.