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EXAMPLE OF SEARCH RESULT TO THE ENQUIRY INTO THE USEFULNESS OF ECT THERAPY IN PARKINSON'S

Seventy four references were found

Here are three of the abstracts found

Varon J Jacobs MB

Treating the progressive stages of Parkinson's disease.

In: Postgrad Med (1991 Jul) 90(1):63-6, 69-71

Parkinson's disease affects thousands of Americans, men and women

equally and apparently with little regard to race. Its diagnosis

depends largely on repeated clinical observations of representative

signs, such as resting tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, and gait

disturbances. Patients progress through stages: Early disease

involves only one limb or side and confers minimal disability, but

advanced disease restricts patients to full care. Treatment is chosen

on the basis of disease stage and patient response. Combination

carbidopa-levodopa (Sinemet) is appropriate for any significant

degree of disability, and other antiparkinsonian drugs and

anticholinergic agents may be used as adjuncts. Electroconvulsive

therapy, use of selegiline hydrochloride (Eldepryl), and surgery are

still undergoing investigation but may hold promise.

Department of Medicine

Stanford University School of Medicine

California.

Levy LA Savit JM Hodes M

Parkinsonism: improvement by electroconvulsive therapy.

[Additional information: ABSTRACT ONLINE]

In: Arch Phys Med Rehabil (1983 Sep) 64(9):432-3

Not infrequently, patients with parkinsonism either do not respond to

antiparkinsonian medications or cannot tolerate those medications

because of side effects. We report a patient who, having responded

poorly to every medical regimen for parkinsonism, showed marked

improvement in gait and balance after electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)

for treatment of concomitant severe depression. ECT has been found to

increase the sensitivity of postsynaptic dopaminergic receptors and

noradrenergic receptors and to facilitate, for a considerable period

of time, the neurotransmission along dopaminergic and noradrenergic

pathways in the brain. Thus, ECT may represent another important

therapeutic modality for patients with parkinsonism.

Lebensohn ZM Jenkins RB

Improvement of Parkinsonism in depressed patients treated with ECT.

[Additional information: ABSTRACT ONLINE]

In: Am J Psychiatry (1975 Mar) 132(3):283-5

<Aged> <Dopamine> <Human> <Male> <Middle Age> <Norepinephrine> A

<Remission, Spontaneous> A

Two patients with severe Parkinson's disease were treated with

electroconvulsive therapy for a supervening depression. Not only did

the symptoms of depression clear up after only four treatments, but

the parkinsonian signs also showed striking and sustained

improvement. This may be related to ECT-induced changes in dopamine

and norepinephrine metabolism. Parkinsonism does not appear to be a

contraindication to ECT. On the contrary, ECT may be the treatment of

choice for certain patients with Parkinson's disease, whether nor not

it is complicated by intractable depression.

(The cost of this search would have been $30 in Canadian funds and would have included all the references found and more selected aabstracts)

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